Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 39
प्रेत उवाच । अस्ति पुण्यं महाक्षेत्रं हाटकेश्वरसंज्ञितम् । गंगा च यमुना चैव स्थिते तत्र च संगमे
preta uvāca | asti puṇyaṃ mahākṣetraṃ hāṭakeśvarasaṃjñitam | gaṃgā ca yamunā caiva sthite tatra ca saṃgame
The Preta said: “There is a supremely meritorious great sacred field known as Hāṭakeśvara. There, at the confluence, the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā are present.”
Preta (a departed spirit)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara
Type: sangam
Listener: Unnamed questioner (addressed as mahābhāga/mahāmati in surrounding verses)
Scene: The preta begins his narration, pointing to a great sacred field named Hāṭakeśvara where Gaṅgā and Yamunā meet in a luminous confluence.
FAQs
Holy places and river-confluences are praised as powerful sources of puṇya, capable of transforming even difficult states of existence.
The Hāṭakeśvara Mahākṣetra at the Gaṅgā–Yamunā confluence (saṅgama).
No explicit rite is prescribed in this verse; it introduces the tīrtha and its sacred setting (the saṅgama).