Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 77
तीर्थमन्यैरिति ख्यातं बालकानां हितावहम् । रोगार्तानां भयार्तानामस्माकं वचनात्सदा
tīrthamanyairiti khyātaṃ bālakānāṃ hitāvaham | rogārtānāṃ bhayārtānāmasmākaṃ vacanātsadā
“This sacred place will also be famed by others as a tīrtha that brings welfare to children—always, by our declaration—for those afflicted by disease and for those afflicted by fear.”
Ṛṣis (the sages)
Tirtha: Bālasakhya-tīrtha (also ‘tīrtham anyair iti khyātam’)
Type: ghat
Listener: Dvija addressed earlier; broader pilgrim audience implied
Scene: Pilgrims arrive with sick or frightened children; sages proclaim the tīrtha’s fame as ‘balakānāṃ hitāvaham’; the river-ghāṭa and shrine form a compassionate sanctuary.
FAQs
A tīrtha’s greatness is measured by compassion—its power to relieve suffering, especially for vulnerable children.
Bālasakhya-tīrtha (the child-welfare tīrtha) in Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya.
Implied use of the tīrtha for relief—contextually fulfilled through bathing (snāna) described in the next verses.