Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 27
अग्निश्च तेजो मृडया च देहो रेतोऽधा विष्णुरमृतस्य नाभिः । एवं ब्रुवन् पाण्डव सत्यवाक्यं ततोऽवगाहेत पतिं नदीनाम् । इति स्नानमन्त्रः
agniśca tejo mṛḍayā ca deho reto'dhā viṣṇuramṛtasya nābhiḥ | evaṃ bruvan pāṇḍava satyavākyaṃ tato'vagāheta patiṃ nadīnām | iti snānamantraḥ
«Le Feu est splendeur ; par la grâce de Śiva, le corps est maintenu ; l’essence génératrice est placée en bas ; Viṣṇu est le nombril de l’immortalité.» Ainsi parlant—parole véridique du Pāṇḍava—qu’on s’immerge alors dans le Seigneur des rivières. Tel est le mantra du bain.
Śiva (Śaṅkara)
Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (Revākhaṇḍa setting; ‘patiṃ nadīnām’ invoked as the river-lord)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A pilgrim at dawn stands waist-deep in a sacred river, palms joined, reciting a mantra while envisioning Agni’s radiance, Śiva’s protective grace around the body, and Viṣṇu as a luminous navel-lotus of immortality; then he immerses fully.
FAQs
Ritual bathing is framed as a theologically charged act, aligning the body and cosmos through sacred speech before immersion.
A supreme river-tīrtha is implied by “lord of rivers”; within Revā Khaṇḍa, the Narmadā’s tīrtha-power remains the dominant frame.
Recite the snāna-mantra (attributed to a Pāṇḍava’s truthful utterance) and then perform avagāha (full immersion).