Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 62
नार्थवादोयमुदितः स्तुतिवादो न वै मुने । सत्यं यथार्थवादोयं श्रद्धेयः सद्भिरादरात्
nārthavādoyamuditaḥ stutivādo na vai mune | satyaṃ yathārthavādoyaṃ śraddheyaḥ sadbhirādarāt
ಓ ಮುನೇ, ಇದು ಅರ್ಥವಾದ (ಅತಿಶಯೋಕ್ತಿ) ಅಲ್ಲ, ಕೇವಲ ಸ್ತುತಿವಾದವೂ ಅಲ್ಲ; ಇದು ಸತ್ಯವಾದ ಯಥಾರ್ಥ ವಚನ—ಸಜ್ಜನರು ಇದನ್ನು ಆದರದಿಂದ ಶ್ರದ್ಧೆಯಿಂದ ಅಂಗೀಕರಿಸಬೇಕು.
Skanda
Listener: Muni (explicitly addressed)
Scene: A sage questions; the narrator responds with calm certainty. A scroll or palm-leaf manuscript glows, symbolizing ‘yathārtha-vāda’; the confluence and tīrthas appear behind as validated reality.
FAQs
The text frames tīrtha-māhātmya as reliable dharma-teaching, urging śraddhā grounded in reverent trust rather than skepticism.
The verse validates the preceding praise of Kāśī’s tīrthas—especially Lolārka and the Gaṅgā–Asi confluence.
No ritual is prescribed; it instructs the listener to accept the stated māhātmya as truthful and worthy of faith.