Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 39
न तीर्थैर्न च दानैश्च दुष्कृतं हि विलुप्यते । अज्ञानाच्च प्रमादाच्च कृतं पापं विनश्यति
na tīrthairna ca dānaiśca duṣkṛtaṃ hi vilupyate | ajñānācca pramādācca kṛtaṃ pāpaṃ vinaśyati
Schlechte Taten werden nicht wahrhaftig allein durch Pilgerfahrten zu Tīrthas oder durch Gaben (Dāna) ausgelöscht. Doch Sünde, aus Unwissenheit oder Unachtsamkeit begangen, kann vergehen, wenn man zu rechter Einsicht und Selbstzucht erwacht.
Nandī (deduced)
Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (general)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A pilgrim stands between two paths: one labeled ‘tīrtha-dāna only’ leading to a loop back into darkness; the other labeled ‘jñāna + saṃyama’ leading to light. River water reflects a clear mind as the pilgrim drops a weapon/vice into the river and takes a vow of restraint.
FAQs
Pilgrimage and charity are not substitutes for moral reform; deliberate wrongdoing is not cancelled by external piety.
The teaching appears in the Revā Khaṇḍa (Narmadā context), framing tīrtha-benefit as dependent on ethical intent.
Tīrtha-yātrā and dāna are mentioned, but the prescription is implicit: use them with repentance and correction, not as a cover for intentional sin.