Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 4
सूत उवाच । नाना तीर्थानि लोकेऽस्मिन्येषां संख्या न विद्यते । तिस्रः कोट्योऽर्द्धकोटिश्च तेषां संख्या कृता पुरा
sūta uvāca | nānā tīrthāni loke'sminyeṣāṃ saṃkhyā na vidyate | tisraḥ koṭyo'rddhakoṭiśca teṣāṃ saṃkhyā kṛtā purā
Sūta berkata: Di dunia ini ada banyak tīrtha (tempat ziarah suci) yang jumlahnya tak sungguh-sungguh dapat diketahui; namun dahulu bilangannya disebut tiga krore dan tambahan setengah krore.
Sūta
Listener: Ṛṣis (assembly at a śrauta/purāṇic recitation setting)
Scene: Sūta addresses assembled sages, evoking an immense map-like vision of countless tīrthas across Bhārata, with symbolic rivers, mountains, and shrines appearing as a sacred panorama.
FAQs
The sacred landscape is vast beyond easy measure; the Purāṇa frames pilgrimage as an expansive, world-encompassing field of merit.
No single site; the verse broadly introduces the immense multitude of tīrthas before detailing particular ones.
No direct ritual is prescribed; it sets context for tīrtha-focused practices (yātrā, snāna, dāna) that typically follow in māhātmya sections.