Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 29
मनसा गच्छ दुर्गाणि ददद्दानमनुत्तमम् । नश्येत्तेनाशुभं किंचिदपि ब्रह्मवधोद्भवम् । यन्न याति नृणां राजंस्तीर्थस्नानादिना भुवि
manasā gaccha durgāṇi dadaddānamanuttamam | naśyettenāśubhaṃ kiṃcidapi brahmavadhodbhavam | yanna yāti nṛṇāṃ rājaṃstīrthasnānādinā bhuvi
Ô roi, avance—ne fût-ce qu’avec une résolution inébranlable—vers les lieux saints difficiles et lointains, en offrant des dons sans égal. Par cela s’éteint toute souillure, même celle née du meurtre d’un brāhmaṇa ; une purification que les hommes n’obtiennent pas sur terre par le seul bain aux tīrtha et autres pratiques semblables.
Pulastya (deduced from adjoining verse context)
Tirtha: Durgama-tīrthas (generic), within Prabhāsa-ādi circuit
Type: kshetra
Listener: The king (rājan)
Scene: The king traverses rugged terrain—forests, mountains, deserts—approaching remote shrines and rivers; he offers gifts to brāhmaṇas and the poor; a dark cloud labeled ‘brahmahatyā’ dissolves as he gives and perseveres.
FAQs
Purification is intensified when pilgrimage is joined with extraordinary charity and sincere resolve, surpassing ritual alone.
No single tīrtha is isolated; the verse broadens the praise to arduous tīrthas generally, within the Arbuda pilgrimage narrative.
Dāna (generous giving) alongside tīrtha-yātrā; the verse contrasts this with “tīrtha-snānādi” (bathing and related rites) when done without that fuller discipline.