Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 5
सा श्रुत्वा भर्तृनिधनमर्जुनाच्च महासती । गंगातीरे समुत्पाद्य पावकं पावकप्रभा । समुत्सृज्य महाकायं नदीभूत्वा विनिर्ययौ
sā śrutvā bhartṛnidhanamarjunācca mahāsatī | gaṃgātīre samutpādya pāvakaṃ pāvakaprabhā | samutsṛjya mahākāyaṃ nadībhūtvā viniryayau
Als sie von Arjuna den Tod ihres Gatten vernahm, entfachte jene große keusche Frau—leuchtend wie Feuer—am Ufer der Gaṅgā eine Flamme. Ihren mächtigen Leib abwerfend, ging sie dahin und wurde zu einem Fluss.
Narrator (continuing Īśvara’s account)
Tirtha: Jāmbavatī-nadī (origin episode)
Type: river
Listener: Devī
Scene: Jāmbavatī, radiant like fire, hears from Arjuna of her husband’s death; on the Gaṅgā bank she kindles a pyre, enters the blaze, and her essence streams forth as a newly born river flowing onward.
FAQs
Purity of resolve and devotion is mythically transfigured into sacred geography, turning personal dharma into a public tīrtha for all.
The Jāmbavatī River, whose sanctity is explained through her transformation.
Implicitly, the passage sanctifies the river as a place of future snāna (bathing) and merit, elaborated in subsequent verses.