Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 8
यथा हि वर्षतो धारा यथा वा दिवि तारकाः । गंगायां सिकता यद्वत्तद्वत्संख्या न विद्यते
yathā hi varṣato dhārā yathā vā divi tārakāḥ | gaṃgāyāṃ sikatā yadvattadvatsaṃkhyā na vidyate
De même qu’on ne peut compter les flots de la pluie, ni les étoiles du ciel, ni les grains de sable du Gaṅgā, de même sa mesure demeure inconnue.
Sūta (deduced)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya (measure/puṇya) with Gaṅgā as analogy
Type: kshetra
Scene: Threefold analogy tableau: rain-streams falling in countless lines, a night sky dense with stars, and the Gaṅgā riverbank with endless sand—overlayed with the idea of immeasurable merit.
FAQs
The fruit of sacred hearing and devotion is portrayed as immeasurable, surpassing ordinary calculation.
The comparison supports the chapter’s praise of Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (with Gaṅgā invoked as a benchmark of sacred vastness).
No direct rite; it is a poetic amplification of the immeasurable phala (spiritual fruit).