Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 16
किं तस्य बहुभिर्मंत्रैः किं तीर्थैः किं तपोऽध्वरैः । यस्योंनमः शिवायेति मंत्रो हृदयगोचरः
kiṃ tasya bahubhirmaṃtraiḥ kiṃ tīrthaiḥ kiṃ tapo'dhvaraiḥ | yasyoṃnamaḥ śivāyeti maṃtro hṛdayagocaraḥ
যাৰ হৃদয়ত ‘ওঁ নমঃ শিৱায়’ মন্ত্র প্ৰৱেশ কৰিছে, তেনে জনৰ বহু মন্ত্রৰ কি প্ৰয়োজন? তীৰ্থৰ কি প্ৰয়োজন? তপস্যা আৰু যজ্ঞৰ কি প্ৰয়োজন?
Deductive attribution: Purāṇic narrator in Brahmottara-khaṇḍa (likely Sūta/compilational voice)
Scene: A devotee seated in meditation with the mantra glowing in the heart-lotus; around them fade symbols of many rites—sacrificial fire, pilgrimage paths, multiple mantra-scrolls—indicating their essence absorbed into the heart-mantra.
FAQs
When the Śiva-mantra becomes inwardly established, it is portrayed as sufficient compared to external multiplicity of rites.
No single tīrtha is praised; rather, the verse relativizes tīrtha-travel in comparison to heart-established mantra.
Internalization and japa of ‘Oṃ namaḥ śivāya’; other rites are declared non-essential for one so established.