Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 25
अथासौ प्राह तं शूद्रमतिथे कुरु भोजनम् । स्वेच्छया पिब तोयं च श्रेयो येन भवेन्मम
athāsau prāha taṃ śūdramatithe kuru bhojanam | svecchayā piba toyaṃ ca śreyo yena bhavenmama
پھر اس نے اس شودر سے کہا، “اے مہمان، کھانا تیار کرو، اور اپنی مرضی کے مطابق پانی پیو—تاکہ میرا بھی بھلا یقینی ہو جائے۔”
Preta-rāja (implied ruler of the pretas, speaking within the narrative)
Type: kshetra
Scene: The preta-king addresses a Śūdra traveler as ‘guest’, instructing him to prepare food and drink water freely; the moment is ethical and intimate amid the eerie court.
FAQs
Hospitality—especially food and water to a guest—functions as a powerful dharmic act that generates śreyas (spiritual welfare).
The immediate focus is dharma within a tīrtha-māhātmya narrative; the verse itself does not name a location.
Atithi-sevā: offering/arranging food (anna) and water (toya/jala) for a guest.