Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 60
यागाः सर्वे मया पूर्वं तुलया विधृता द्विज । तच्च तीर्थवरं रम्यं कामिकं कामपूरणात
yāgāḥ sarve mayā pūrvaṃ tulayā vidhṛtā dvija | tacca tīrthavaraṃ ramyaṃ kāmikaṃ kāmapūraṇāta
لقد وزنتُ من قبلُ جميع القرابين في ميزان، أيها البرهمن؛ فوجدتُ ذلك التيـرث الجميل الأسمى يُدعى «كامِكا»، لأنه يحقق الرغبات.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāmika tīrtha (within Prayāga-maṇḍala, per context)
Type: tirtha
Listener: A brāhmaṇa (dvija)
Scene: A divine figure holds a balance scale: on one pan are symbolic yajña implements (sruva, kuśa, soma vessel), on the other a radiant tīrtha-water pot; the tīrtha side outweighs the sacrifices.
FAQs
Pilgrimage to the supreme tīrtha is portrayed as outweighing ritual sacrifices, emphasizing grace, sacred place, and accessible dharma.
The ‘best of tīrthas’—contextually Prayāga—is praised and characterized as Kāmika, the desire-fulfilling tīrtha.
A comparative teaching is given: even yajñas are ‘weighed’ against the tīrtha’s merit; it implicitly recommends tīrtha-yātrā and tīrtha-sevā.