Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 41
मुच्यते न च पापेन चंडालत्वेन स द्विजाः । एवंविधेषु तीर्थेषु स्नातोपि च पृथक्पृथक्
mucyate na ca pāpena caṃḍālatvena sa dvijāḥ | evaṃvidheṣu tīrtheṣu snātopi ca pṛthakpṛthak
Ô vous, deux-fois-nés : bien qu’il se fût baigné maintes et maintes fois en de tels tīrtha, il ne fut délivré ni du péché ni de l’état de caṇḍāla.
Sūta (implied continuation)
Type: tirtha (generic)
Listener: dvijāḥ (addressed audience)
Scene: A weary pilgrim-king at multiple river-ghāṭs and ponds, repeatedly bathing yet still shadowed by a dark aura symbolizing unresolved pāpa/caṇḍālatva; sages observe with concern.
FAQs
External pilgrimage alone is not always sufficient; deeper causes of bondage require the right sacred encounter, grace, and inner transformation.
No single tīrtha is singled out; the verse contrasts many tīrtha-bathings with the lack of liberation from a particular condition.
Snāna (ritual bathing) is referenced, but shown as insufficient by itself in this narrative context.