Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 112
तीर्थव्रतानि सेवन्ते प्रत्ययो नैव जायते । मोहितं तु जगत्पूर्वं मिथ्याज्ञानेन शंकर
tīrthavratāni sevante pratyayo naiva jāyate | mohitaṃ tu jagatpūrvaṃ mithyājñānena śaṃkara
वे तीर्थ-सेवा और व्रत-आचरण करते हैं, पर सच्चा प्रत्यय नहीं जगता। हे शंकर, पहले तो जगत मिथ्या ज्ञान से मोहित हो गया था।
Pārvatī
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śiva (Śaṃkara)
Scene: Pārvatī notes that people undertake pilgrimages and vows but lack inner conviction; she attributes the world’s earlier delusion to false knowledge, addressing Śaṃkara for clarification.
FAQs
External observances without right understanding and faith do not generate transformative certainty.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra is the māhātmya context, while the verse comments broadly on tīrtha-sevā.
It mentions tīrtha-vrata practice but warns that it is ineffective when driven by delusion and false knowledge.