Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 13
धन्योऽयं तनयो ह्यस्याः शुश्रूषां कुरुते सदा । पुत्रयुक्ता त्वियं धन्या धिगहं पुत्रवर्जिता
dhanyo'yaṃ tanayo hyasyāḥ śuśrūṣāṃ kurute sadā | putrayuktā tviyaṃ dhanyā dhigahaṃ putravarjitā
ધન્ય છે તેનો આ પુત્ર, જે સદા માતાની સેવા-શુશ્રૂષા કરે છે. પુત્રવતી તે સ્ત્રી ધન્ય; ધિક્કાર છે મને, હું પુત્રવર્જિતા!
Gautamī (the chaste woman, speaking in lament)
Tirtha: Arbuda-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: A king (nṛpasattama)
Scene: Gautamī observes a devoted son serving his mother; she praises them, then turns inward with self-reproach for her childlessness.
FAQs
It praises filial service (śuśrūṣā) as a visible sign of dharma and reveals how human longing (for progeny) can become the motive that draws one toward a tīrtha’s grace.
The verse occurs within the Arbuda Khaṇḍa setting, where the greatness of a local tīrtha is being unfolded through Gautamī’s experience (the specific water-tīrtha is clarified in the surrounding verses).
No direct ritual is prescribed here; it is a reflective statement highlighting the dharma of service and the pain of childlessness.