Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 20
क्षुरपृष्ठे च गन्धर्वा वेदाश्चत्वार एव च । मुखाग्रे सर्वतीर्थानि स्थावराणि चराणि च
kṣurapṛṣṭhe ca gandharvā vedāścatvāra eva ca | mukhāgre sarvatīrthāni sthāvarāṇi carāṇi ca
Auf ihrem rücken, scharf wie ein Rasiermesser, sind die Gandharvas und die vier Veden; am vordersten Rand ihres Mundes weilen alle tīrthas, der unbewegten wie der bewegten Welten.
Narrator (contextual; likely Vyāsa continuing the account within the dialogue frame)
Tirtha: Sarva-tīrtha-nivāsa (at Surabhī’s mukha-agra)
Type: sangam
Listener: King (Rājan)
Scene: Surabhī’s back gleams like a sharp ridge (kṣura-pṛṣṭha), with Gandharvas poised as celestial musicians along her spine; the four Vedas appear as four luminous manuscripts/emanations; at her mouth-front, a mandala of many tīrthas—rivers, ghats, springs—miniaturized and orbiting.
FAQs
All sacred knowledge and pilgrimage-merit are envisioned as concentrated in a divine principle, linking Veda and tīrtha into one sacred body.
The verse praises the idea of ‘all tīrthas’ (sarvatīrtha) collectively rather than a single named location.
No explicit ritual is stated; the verse establishes a theological basis for tīrtha-reverence and Vedic sanctity.