Skandapurana 16.208

The Goddess said: / "'This should be given, this should be given,' as declared in the Veda— / I desire to hear the distinctions among gifts in truth. // 1

Which gifts are commended? And to whom should which gifts be given? / Declare to me, O Lord, everything regarding time, place, and recipient." // 2

Īśvara said: / "Useless births are four, and useless gifts are sixteen; / auspicious births are four, and great gifts are sixteen." // 3

The Goddess said: / "Speak of this in detail, O God of gods, Lord of the universe!" // 4

Īśvara said: / "Learn from me which the four useless births are: / useless is the birth of wicked sons and of those expelled from dharma, / and of those who go abroad, constantly devoted to other men's wives, // 5

and of those who eat food cooked by others and delight in other men's wives. / A gift that is irrevocable and flawed is also useless, O beloved! // 6

So too, wealth acquired unjustly given to one who has fallen from an ascetic vow, / a gift to a killer of a brahmin, to an outcaste, and likewise to a thief is useless; // 7

and what is given to one who causes displeasure to his guru, to an ungrateful person, to a village priest, / to a degraded brahmin, and what is given to the husband of a Śūdra woman; // 8

and to a seller of the Veda, and to him in whose house there is a paramour, / and what is given to one conquered by a woman—these are the sixteen useless gifts. // 9

And auspicious is the birth of virtuous sons, and of men devoted to dharma, / who do not wander abroad, and who turn away from other men's wives. // 10

Cows, gold, silver, jewels, and Sarasvatī [i.e., books], / sesame seeds, a maiden, an elephant, a horse, a bed, clothing, and land, // 11

grain, milk, an umbrella, and a house furnished with utensils: / these indeed, O Great Goddess, are the sixteen great gifts. // 12

He who gives enveloped in pride, or out of fear, or out of anger, / enjoys the fruit of that gift while remaining in the womb; there is no doubt about this. // 13

And he enjoys in childhood what was given on account of hypocrisy, / grief, or offense, and likewise for the sake of wealth. // 14

He who gives justly acquired wealth with a pure mind, / in [the proper] place, time, and to a worthy recipient, enjoys it in youth. // 15

Wealth acquired unlawfully, presented to an unworthy recipient, / obtained with hardship, or devoid of proper rite—that he experiences in old age. (16)

Therefore, in the proper place and time, to a worthy recipient according to rule, / a man should give what was auspiciously acquired, with faith and free of deceit. (17)

Rich in Vedic study, endowed with yoga, peaceful, knowing the Purāṇas, fearing sin, generous, / patient with women, righteous, a protector of cows, steeped in vows—such a man they call a worthy recipient. (18)

Truth, self-restraint, austerity, purity, contentment, absence of envy, uprightness, / knowledge, calm, compassion, charity—these are the characteristics of a worthy recipient. (19)

When one gives even a single cow to such a worthy recipient— / a brown cow with a matching calf, endowed with all auspicious marks, (20)

with silver hooves and gold horns—he is glorified in the world of Rudra. / A master of ten cows should give one cow, and a master of a hundred cows likewise ten. (21)

A master of a thousand cows should give a hundred; they are all held to have equal fruit. / Good-natured, beautiful, young, yielding milk, / with her calf and lawfully obtained—[such] a cow should be given to a brahmin. (22)

Barren, diseased, deficient in limbs, vicious, aged, one whose offspring have died, / unlawfully acquired, or living far away—such a cow one should not give. (23)

For a man who gives such a cow dedicating it to a deity, / on the contrary goes to a downward state and suffers, O great goddess. (24)

Angry, distressed, feeble, diseased, and acquired without paying the price—she should not be given; / if trouble arises for brahmins through her, all worlds are rendered fruitless for the giver. (25)

To a peaceful guest who is in distress, who maintains the sacred fires, / and is learned in the Veda—even a single cow given becomes manifold. (26)

If a brahmin weak in knowledge sells the cow, O goddess, / he is not praised as a worthy recipient, nor indeed is he considered a brahmin. (27)

A cow, a house, a bed, and women must not be given to many; / for this sacrificial gift, when divided, does not stand by the giver. (28)

Where palaces are golden, and couches are bright as the sun, / and where there are excellent apsarases—there go the givers of cows. (29)

There is no gift equal to land; there is no river equal to the Gaṅgā; / there is no dharma higher than truth; there is no deity other than Maheśvara. (30)

High, full of stones, uneven, and salty barren ground, / or rugged land on riverbanks—such land should never be given. (31)

The giver of land dwells in heaven for sixty thousand years; / the one who seizes it or approves of its seizure goes to hell for the very same period. (32)

Whatever sin a man commits when reduced to poverty in livelihood, / he is purified even by a gift of land measuring only a gocarma. (33)

An umbrella, a bed and seat, a conch, elephants, horses, chowries, women, / and land: the world of Śiva is remembered as the fruit of giving these. (34)

On a Sunday, on a saṃkrānti, during an eclipse of the moon or the sun, / on days of breaking a fast, and during the gift of a cow, a householder having grandsons should not fast. (35)

At the disappearance of the moon, at a saṃkrānti, on the eleventh lunar day, and when a century [of fasts] is completed, / one should not observe a fast if he desires continuous lineage. (36)

As is the bright fortnight, so is the dark; there is no distinction whatsoever. / Nevertheless, merit always increases on the bright [fortnight] alone. (37)

When the eleventh day is touched by the tenth and the twelfth is diminished, / one should observe the night fast there; a complete fast is not prescribed. (38)

He who fasts on the eleventh day and breaks the fast on the thirteenth / loses the fruit of the twelve dvādaśī [fasts]. (39)

During a fast and at a śrāddha, one should not use a tooth-cleaning stick; / by contact of the teeth with wood, one destroys indeed seven generations. (40)

The new moon, the full moon, and the annual day of one's father: / not performing them when overlapped by the previous day, one falls into hell. (41)

And loss of offspring is declared; he would incur misfortune. / In the absence of wealth, I shall explain the rule of the śrāddha in truth: (42)

With even a single brahmin, one should perform the six-piṇḍa śrāddha; / one should offer six water offerings there and give to them according to rule. (43)

The father eats in the brahmin's hand; the grandfather eats in his mouth; / the great-grandfather is in the palate; the maternal grandfather is held to be in the throat. (44)

The maternal great-grandfather is in the heart, and the elder is established in the navel. / In the absence of a brahmin, dear lady, a brahmin should be made of kuśa grass. / This is declared having extracted the essence from all the Purāṇas. (45)

And this must not be given to an atheist, a slanderer, or a reviler of the Vedas. / This should be recited morning after morning having worshipped Maheśvara. (46)

One should give an umbrella and worship the speaker of this dharma, / high-born and learned in all the scriptures, just like the god Maheśvara. (47)

He who hears even a single verse from an unworthy reader / does not attain merit; indeed, he is remembered as a thief of scripture. (48)

Therefore, the wise person should worship the reciter with every effort. / Otherwise, his listening to the book will become fruitless. (49)

In whose house this exceedingly rare treatise stays, / in his house, O goddess, Śiva himself dwells together with the sacred fords. (50)

What is the use of speaking much here? He will become a vessel of liberation. / But this must not be given to a slanderer, an atheist, or one filled with hypocrisy. (51)

This should be given to a peaceful, self-controlled, twice-born follower of Śiva. (52)

Thus ends the two-hundred-and-eighth chapter, entitled 'Description of the Glory of a Brahmin as a Worthy Recipient of Gifts in the Rite of Śrāddha', in the First Prabhāsa-kṣetra-māhātmya, in the Seventh Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. (208)