Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 25
ततः प्रोक्तो मया रामः स्पृशेमां वत्स पाणिना । मानुषत्वं लभेद्येन गौतमस्य प्रिया मुनेः । शापदोषेण संजाता शिलेयं तस्य सन्मुनेः
tataḥ prokto mayā rāmaḥ spṛśemāṃ vatsa pāṇinā | mānuṣatvaṃ labhedyena gautamasya priyā muneḥ | śāpadoṣeṇa saṃjātā śileyaṃ tasya sanmuneḥ
Alors je dis à Rāma : «Cher enfant, touche ceci de ta main ; par ce contact, l’épouse bien-aimée du sage Gautama retrouvera la condition humaine. Par la faute d’une malédiction, elle est devenue cette pierre — elle qui appartient à ce noble voyant».
Ṛṣi narrator (first-person), instructing Rāma
Tirtha: Ahalyā-vimocana-sthāna (implied)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Rāma (addressed as vatsa)
Scene: The sage gently instructs young Rāma to touch the stone; Ahalyā’s stone form is prominent; Lakṣmaṇa watches; the hermitage radiates quiet sanctity as the moment of release approaches.
FAQs
Compassionate action guided by dharma becomes a channel for liberation; divine touch dispels the bondage of past wrongdoing.
Gautama’s hermitage is the sacred setting connected with Ahalyā’s redemption; the verse itself does not provide a named tīrtha.
A single, symbolic act is prescribed: the righteous touch (sparśa) by Rāma as a liberating, purifying intervention.