Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 46
एकस्तु यो याति कथं न क्लिश्यते मूर्खो न जानाति भवं महेश्वरम् । स्नात्वा न पश्यंति हरं महेश्वरं दैवेन ते वै मुषिता नराधमाः
ekastu yo yāti kathaṃ na kliśyate mūrkho na jānāti bhavaṃ maheśvaram | snātvā na paśyaṃti haraṃ maheśvaraṃ daivena te vai muṣitā narādhamāḥ
Comment l’homme qui va seul ne serait-il pas accablé? L’insensé ne reconnaît pas Bhava, le Grand Seigneur Maheśvara. Même après s’être baigné au tīrtha, ils ne contemplent pas Hara, Maheśvara : par le destin, ces hommes les plus vils sont abusés et dépouillés de la juste compréhension.
Unspecified (contextual narrator within Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa māhātmya discourse)
Tirtha: Vastrāpatha tīrtha (within Prabhāsa)
Type: ghat
Listener: null
Scene: A lone bather emerges from sacred water, yet his gaze is turned away from the temple where Hara stands radiant; shadowy figures of delusion (moha) tug at him, while a sage gestures toward the deity, symbolizing guidance.
FAQs
Pilgrimage and ritual bathing bear fruit only when joined with true recognition and devotion to Śiva; without inner vision, one misses the Lord even at a sacred place.
The verse occurs in the Vastrāpathakṣetra-māhātmya within Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, pointing to the sanctity of Vastrāpatha and its Śaiva darśana.
Tīrtha-snānā (sacred bathing) is referenced, with emphasis that it should culminate in Śiva-darśana (beholding Hara/Maheśvara).