Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 54
दुर्बुद्धयो दुराचारा हैतुका बहुसंशयाः । पश्यंति मोहिता विष्णो गंगामन्य नदीमिव
durbuddhayo durācārā haitukā bahusaṃśayāḥ | paśyaṃti mohitā viṣṇo gaṃgāmanya nadīmiva
Ô Viṣṇu, ceux dont l’intelligence est pauvre, la conduite mauvaise, l’esprit querelleur et les doutes nombreux—abusés—voient la Gaṅgā comme si elle n’était qu’une autre rivière.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā
Type: river
Listener: Viṣṇu (vocative ‘viṣṇo’ in verse)
Scene: Two groups at the riverbank: devotees bowing to Gaṅgā with lamps and flowers; skeptics with dismissive gestures and debating posture, their faces clouded; Gaṅgā appears subtly as a goddess to the devotees but remains ‘just water’ to the deluded.
FAQs
Spiritual blindness and excessive doubt prevent one from recognizing the unique sanctity of a tīrtha like Gaṅgā.
Gaṅgā, distinguished from ordinary rivers within the Kāśī sacred worldview.
No direct ritual is prescribed; the verse prescribes right vision—reverent recognition of Gaṅgā’s māhātmya.