Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 87
देशानामुत्तमो देशो गिरीणामुत्तमो गिरिः । क्षेत्राणामुत्तमं क्षेत्रं नदीनामुत्तमा सरित्
deśānāmuttamo deśo girīṇāmuttamo giriḥ | kṣetrāṇāmuttamaṃ kṣetraṃ nadīnāmuttamā sarit
Unter den Ländern ist dies das beste Land; unter den Bergen ist dies der höchste Berg; unter den heiligen Stätten ist dies das erhabenste Kṣetra; und unter den Flüssen ist dies der vornehmste Strom.
Narrator (contextual; likely Sārasvata continuing the māhātmya narration before explicit attribution)
Tirtha: Vastrāpatha (as ‘uttama’ deśa/kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A panoramic sacred map-like vision: the best land, a prominent mountain, a radiant kṣetra, and a shining river, all converging around Vastrāpatha as a unified holy landscape.
FAQs
The verse teaches reverence for sacred geography—certain places are praised as spiritually preeminent and worthy of pilgrimage and worship.
The context is the Vastrāpatha-kṣetra māhātmya within Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, praising the local kṣetra as supreme.
No specific rite is prescribed in this verse; it functions as a eulogy establishing the site’s unsurpassed sanctity.