Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 73
काश्यप उवाच । रामनाथ तव पादसेविनां किं व्रतैरुत तपोभिरध्वरैः । वेदशास्त्र जपचिन्तया च किं स्वर्गसिन्धुपयसापि किं फलम्
kāśyapa uvāca | rāmanātha tava pādasevināṃ kiṃ vratairuta tapobhiradhvaraiḥ | vedaśāstra japacintayā ca kiṃ svargasindhupayasāpi kiṃ phalam
Kāśyapa dit : «Ô Rāmanātha, pour ceux qui servent Tes pieds, à quoi bon vœux, austérités ou rites sacrificiels ? À quoi bon l’étude des Veda et des śāstra, le japa et la méditation ? Quel fruit de plus pourraient donner même les eaux du fleuve céleste ?»
Kāśyapa
Tirtha: Rāmanātha (Rāmeśvara) at Setu
Type: kshetra
Listener: Rāmanātha (Śiva)
Scene: Sage Kāśyapa, hands folded, praises Rāmanātha’s lotus-feet; behind, the sea-setu horizon and the temple-liṅga sanctum glow, suggesting that even heavenly Gaṅgā pales before devotion.
FAQs
Single-point devotion—serving the Lord’s feet—is presented as surpassing ritual, austerity, and even famed purifying waters.
Śrī Rāmanātha at Setu—identified with the Rāmeśvaram/Setubandha sacred geography in the Setukhaṇḍa.
No direct prescription; common meritorious acts (vrata, tapa, yajña, japa, śāstra-study) are referenced to emphasize that bhakti is supreme.