Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 24
कृच्छ्रचान्द्रायणाद्यैर्वा द्वितीयं तीर्थसेवया । यदा तीर्थं समुद्दिश्य प्रयाति पुरुषो नृप । तदा देवाश्च पितरस्तं व्रजन्त्यनु खेचराः
kṛcchracāndrāyaṇādyairvā dvitīyaṃ tīrthasevayā | yadā tīrthaṃ samuddiśya prayāti puruṣo nṛpa | tadā devāśca pitarastaṃ vrajantyanu khecarāḥ
Par des pénitences ardues telles que le Kṛcchra et le Cāndrāyaṇa, on obtient la purification ; mais la seconde voie—plus haute—est le service d’un tīrtha. Ô Roi, lorsque l’homme se met en route, l’intention fixée sur le lieu sacré, alors les dieux et les ancêtres le suivent, avec les êtres célestes qui parcourent le ciel.
Unspecified (addressing a king; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa or a Purāṇic narrator within Revā Khaṇḍa)
Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (Narmadā) and its associated tīrtha destinations
Type: kshetra
Listener: Nṛpa (King) addressed explicitly (nṛpa)
Scene: A pilgrim-king sets out with staff and water-pot, eyes fixed on the distant river; behind and above him, luminous devas and pitṛs follow in subtle forms, with khecaras moving through the sky like radiant birds.
FAQs
A sincere resolve to undertake pilgrimage is itself so meritorious that divine and ancestral forces are said to support and accompany the pilgrim.
Tīrthas broadly; in Revā Khaṇḍa the contextual frame is the Revā/Narmadā tīrtha network.
The verse references penitential vratas (Kṛcchra, Cāndrāyaṇa) and elevates tīrtha-sevā and tīrtha-yātrā (setting out for a sacred place).