Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 23
वाचिकं तु द्वितीयेन कायिकं तु तृतीयकात् । संसर्गजं चतुर्थेन रहस्यं पञ्चमेन तु
vācikaṃ tu dvitīyena kāyikaṃ tu tṛtīyakāt | saṃsargajaṃ caturthena rahasyaṃ pañcamena tu
Par le second bain s’efface le péché de la parole; par le troisième, le péché du corps; par le quatrième, le péché né des fréquentations; et par le cinquième, le péché secret, dissimulé.
Śiva (deduced)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa Māgha-snānā (2nd–5th baths)
Type: ghat
Listener: प्रिय/वरानना interlocutor
Scene: A sequence tableau: the same pilgrim bathing multiple times; each bath symbolically dissolves a different ‘stain’—speech as dark marks near mouth, bodily as dust on limbs, association as shadowy figures dispersing, secret sin as a locked chest opening and emptying into light.
FAQs
Puranic dharma treats purification as layered—speech, body, social influence, and hidden faults are cleansed progressively.
Prabhāsa’s sacred waters, presented as capable of erasing multiple classes of pāpa.
Repeated snāna (second through fifth baths) with each bath linked to removal of a specific type of sin.