Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 135
गोकर्णं शिवलोकस्य नृणां सोपानपद्धतिः । शृणु राजन्नहमपि गोकर्णा दधुनागतः
gokarṇaṃ śivalokasya nṛṇāṃ sopānapaddhatiḥ | śṛṇu rājannahamapi gokarṇā dadhunāgataḥ
غوكرنا هي للبشر سُلَّمُ الطريق إلى عالم شيفا. فاسمعْ يا أيها الملك، فإني أنا أيضًا قد جئتُ الساعةَ من غوكرنا.
Gautama (deduced from immediate narrative continuity into Adhyāya 3 where he speaks)
Tirtha: Gokarṇa
Type: kshetra
Listener: A king (राजन्)
Scene: A revered narrator addresses a king, pointing toward a distant vision of Gokarṇa’s shrine as a luminous stairway rising into a celestial Śiva-loka; pilgrims ascend symbolic steps made of mantra, snāna, and devotion.
FAQs
A tīrtha is not merely a place to visit—it is portrayed as a spiritual ladder toward liberation and Śiva’s abode.
Gokarṇa.
No explicit ritual here; it proclaims the salvific status of the site and introduces eyewitness authority (the speaker has come from there).