Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 25
दुर्व्याख्येयस्त्वयं श्लोको धनं लभ्यं न चैव नः । तीर्थयात्रां कथं यामीत्येवाचिंत्यात्र चागताः
durvyākhyeyastvayaṃ śloko dhanaṃ labhyaṃ na caiva naḥ | tīrthayātrāṃ kathaṃ yāmītyevāciṃtyātra cāgatāḥ
This śloka is truly hard to expound, and we have gained no wealth at all. Thinking, “How then shall we set out on pilgrimage to the tīrthas?”, we have come here, anxious and deep in reflection.
Unspecified narrator (within Māheśvarakhaṇḍa dialogue, likely Sūta’s narration)
Tirtha: Generic ‘tīrthāni’ (plural; unspecified)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Nārada
Scene: The petitioners sit before Nārada, worried and empty-handed, holding the manuscript; behind them a faint imagined panorama of rivers, ghats, and temples symbolizes the desired tīrtha-journey.
FAQs
Pilgrimage is a dharmic aspiration, but it should be guided by right counsel and understanding rather than anxiety and material calculation alone.
The verse speaks generally of tīrthayātrā (pilgrimage) without naming a particular site.
None directly; the focus is on the intention to undertake tīrthayātrā and the need for guidance.