Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9
सूत उवाच । पूर्वं तप्त्वा तपस्तीव्रं मर्त्यलोके द्विजोत्तमाः । ततो गच्छंति संहृष्टाः स्वेच्छया त्रिदिवं प्रति । मोक्षमार्गं तथैवान्ये ध्यानाविष्कृतमानसाः
sūta uvāca | pūrvaṃ taptvā tapastīvraṃ martyaloke dvijottamāḥ | tato gacchaṃti saṃhṛṣṭāḥ svecchayā tridivaṃ prati | mokṣamārgaṃ tathaivānye dhyānāviṣkṛtamānasāḥ
Sūta berkata: “Wahai para dvija yang utama! Mula-mula mereka menjalankan tapa yang keras di dunia fana; kemudian dengan sukacita, menurut kehendak sendiri, mereka menuju Tridiva (surga). Yang lain pula, dengan batin yang tersingkap dan jernih oleh meditasi, melangkah pada jalan mokṣa.”
Sūta
Type: kshetra
Listener: Dvijottamāḥ / Naimiṣāraṇya sages (frame)
Scene: Sūta narrates to sages: on one side ascetics perform severe tapas in forests/near a tīrtha; a luminous path rises to svarga with joyful travelers; on the other side meditators sit in stillness, their minds radiant, moving toward a subtle gate of mokṣa.
FAQs
Austerity and meditation refine the person: some attain heavenly realms through merit, while others, through dhyāna, move toward liberation.
This verse explains spiritual trajectories rather than naming a site; it supports the chapter’s broader kṣetra-māhātmya.
Tapas (austerity) and dhyāna (meditation) are indicated as principal disciplines; no specific vow, bath, or donation is specified in this line.