Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 32
प्राजापत्यायुतं चापि तीर्थयात्रापरायणा । अष्टषष्टिषु तीर्थेषु यानि तीर्थानि भूतले । तेषां संदर्शनात्सम्यक्ततः शुद्धिमवाप्स्यसि
prājāpatyāyutaṃ cāpi tīrthayātrāparāyaṇā | aṣṭaṣaṣṭiṣu tīrtheṣu yāni tīrthāni bhūtale | teṣāṃ saṃdarśanātsamyaktataḥ śuddhimavāpsyasi
«Et encore, adonne-toi au pèlerinage et accomplis aussi dix mille pénitences Prājāpatya. Sur la terre se trouvent soixante-huit tīrtha ; en les contemplant comme il se doit, tu obtiendras la purification.»
Gautama Ṛṣi
Tirtha: Aṣṭaṣaṣṭi-tīrtha-saṅgraha (Sixty-eight tīrthas)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A pilgrim-teacher extols the merit of beholding the sixty-eight tīrthas; a mental map of India appears as a garland of sacred fords, with the pilgrim’s vow shining like a flame of tapas.
FAQs
Purification is achieved through both disciplined expiation and sacred travel—duly visiting tīrthas transforms the pilgrim.
The verse glorifies the broader tīrtha-network—‘sixty-eight tīrthas on earth’—as collectively purifying through proper darśana.
Ten thousand Prājāpatya penances are prescribed, together with devotion to tīrtha-yātrā and proper darśana of the sixty-eight tīrthas.