Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 26
प्रेता ऊचुः । वयं प्रेता महाभाग दूरादिह समागताः । श्रुत्वा तीर्थवरं पुण्यं प्रवेशं न लभामहे
pretā ūcuḥ | vayaṃ pretā mahābhāga dūrādiha samāgatāḥ | śrutvā tīrthavaraṃ puṇyaṃ praveśaṃ na labhāmahe
Les pretas dirent : «Ô noble être, nous sommes des pretas, venus d’un pays lointain. Ayant entendu parler de ce tīrtha excellent, très saint et riche de mérite, nous ne parvenons pas à y obtenir l’entrée.»
Pretas
Tirtha: Prabhāsa (tīrtha-vara)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A group of pretas, weary from long wandering, plead at the boundary of Prabhāsa: they have heard of the supreme tīrtha but cannot gain entry; their faces show longing and despair against the radiant sanctity beyond.
FAQs
The holiness of a tīrtha is so potent that even suffering beings yearn for it; yet entry implies spiritual readiness and the working of unseen guardianship.
A ‘tīrtha-vara’ identified in context with Preta-tīrtha/Gātra-vimocana within Prabhāsa-kṣetra.
No explicit rite; the verse emphasizes the desire for tīrtha-access as a prerequisite for purification and relief.