Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 32
गंतुमुद्दिश्य यो गंगां परार्थस्वार्थमेव वा । न गच्छति परं मोहात्स पतेत्पितृभिः सह
gaṃtumuddiśya yo gaṃgāṃ parārthasvārthameva vā | na gacchati paraṃ mohātsa patetpitṛbhiḥ saha
Whoever sets out intending to go to the sacred Gaṅgā—whether for another’s sake or his own—but then, through delusion, does not go, falls down along with his ancestors.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa discourse tone)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (intended pilgrimage)
Type: tirtha
Listener: null
Scene: A pilgrim sets out with staff and waterpot toward the Gaṅgā, but turns back into a fog of delusion; behind him shadowy ancestors stumble downward—an admonitory tableau about broken resolve.
FAQs
A sacred intention (saṅkalpa) toward a tīrtha should be fulfilled; abandoning it through delusion is portrayed as spiritually harmful.
Gaṅgā as the pilgrimage destination, in the Kāśī-khaṇḍa framework.
Completion of intended tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage) to Gaṅgā; no separate rite is detailed.