Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 5
देवदेव उवाच । शृणु देवि विशालाक्षि तीर्थं लिंगमुदाहृतम् । जलाशयेपि तीर्थाख्या जाता मूर्ति परिग्रहात्
devadeva uvāca | śṛṇu devi viśālākṣi tīrthaṃ liṃgamudāhṛtam | jalāśayepi tīrthākhyā jātā mūrti parigrahāt
देवदेव बोले—हे विशालाक्षि देवी, सुनो; तीर्थ को लिंग कहा गया है। केवल जलाशय भी, जब किसी दिव्य मूर्ति का आश्रय-स्वीकार हो जाए, तब ‘तीर्थ’ नाम पाता है।
Śiva (Devadeva)
Tirtha: General tīrtha principle (applied to Kāśī)
Type: kund
Listener: Agastya (frame); Devī is the immediate addressee in the quoted dialogue
Scene: Śiva instructs Devī: ‘A tīrtha is called a liṅga; even a reservoir becomes a tīrtha when a divine form is accepted there.’ Visualize a calm pond with a nearby liṅga shrine and consecration aura.
FAQs
A tīrtha is not merely physical geography; it becomes spiritually potent through divine presence—especially through liṅga/mūrti sanctification.
Not a single named site; the verse gives a general Kāśīkhaṇḍa principle explaining how tīrthas (including ponds) gain sacred status.
Implicitly, worship/recognition of liṅga or mūrti as the sanctifying principle behind tīrtha identity.