Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 56
अस्मासु वीक्षमाणेषु काकाः कुंडेत्र ये पतन् । धार्तराष्ट्रास्तु ते जातास्तीर्थस्यास्य प्रभावतः
asmāsu vīkṣamāṇeṣu kākāḥ kuṃḍetra ye patan | dhārtarāṣṭrāstu te jātāstīrthasyāsya prabhāvataḥ
আমাদের চোখের সামনেই যে কাকেরা এই কুণ্ডে পড়ল, তারা এই তীর্থের মহিমায় ধার্তারাষ্ট্র (রাজহংস) হয়ে গেল।
Skanda (deduced, Kāśī-khaṇḍa context: Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Haṃsatīrtha
Type: kund
Listener: Other pilgrims/onlookers; ultimately Agastya and the sage-audience via narration
Scene: Pilgrims as narrating witnesses; in the pond, newly transformed royal swans (Dhārtarāṣṭras) glide majestically where crows had fallen moments before; the pond radiates sanctity.
FAQs
A tīrtha is not merely water or geography; it is a field of grace that transforms impurity into purity.
Haṃsatīrtha (the kuṇḍa where the transformation occurs), in Kāśī near Kṛttivāsa.
Implicitly, taking refuge in/entering the tīrtha (especially through snāna) is extolled as transformative.