Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 86
यात्रायामथवान्यत्र पर्वकाले शशिग्रहे । अत्र स्नास्यति यः सम्यक्सागरे लवणांभसि । अश्वमेधसहस्रस्य फलं प्राप्स्यति मानवः
yātrāyāmathavānyatra parvakāle śaśigrahe | atra snāsyati yaḥ samyaksāgare lavaṇāṃbhasi | aśvamedhasahasrasya phalaṃ prāpsyati mānavaḥ
Ob auf Pilgerfahrt oder zu anderer Zeit—an Festtagen oder bei einer Mondfinsternis—wer sich hier im salzigen Meerwasser ordnungsgemäß badet, erlangt den Verdienst, der tausend Aśvamedha-Opfern gleichkommt.
Īśvara (narrator framing the dialogue; tīrtha-phala proclamation)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-sāgara (Śrī Someśa/Somnātha-samudra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: Pilgrims at Prabhāsa enter the foaming salt sea at dawn; priests mark tilaka; the sky hints at eclipse; Somnātha’s sacred horizon anchors the scene; a subtle aura suggests ‘a thousand Aśvamedhas’ as invisible merit.
FAQs
Right action in a powerful sacred geography, especially at auspicious times, multiplies spiritual merit.
The ocean-tīrtha at Prabhāsa Kṣetra (Somnāth coastline).
Sāgara-snāna (bathing in the sea), particularly during parva-kāla and lunar eclipses.