Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 68
पापिनां यानि पापानि प्रसह्य क्षालितान्यहो । तच्छुद्ध्यै सेव्यते तीर्थैः प्रयागमधिकं ततः
pāpināṃ yāni pāpāni prasahya kṣālitānyaho | tacchuddhyai sevyate tīrthaiḥ prayāgamadhikaṃ tataḥ
Ach! Die Sünden der Sünder werden mit Macht abgewaschen; um eben dieser Reinigung willen suchen die anderen Tīrthas Prayāga auf und dienen ihm — darum ist Prayāga größer als sie.
Agastya (continued from preceding verse context)
Tirtha: Prayāga (Triveṇī Saṅgama)
Type: sangam
Listener: Sūdharmiṇī / addressed righteous interlocutor
Scene: At the Triveṇī Saṅgama, dark smoke-like forms of sins are swept away by a powerful current of luminous water; other tīrtha-deities arrive with offerings, seeking purification from Prayāga’s waters.
FAQs
The highest tīrtha is defined by its unmatched capacity to purify even the gravest moral and karmic stains.
Prayāga, elevated above other pilgrimage places due to its purificatory power.
Implied tīrtha-sevā—seeking purification through pilgrimage/bathing at Prayāga.