Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 40
शूलभेदे च तीर्थानां साग्रं लक्षं स्थितं द्विजाः । देवग्रामे सहस्रं च तीर्थानां मुनिरब्रवीत्
śūlabhede ca tīrthānāṃ sāgraṃ lakṣaṃ sthitaṃ dvijāḥ | devagrāme sahasraṃ ca tīrthānāṃ munirabravīt
ഹേ ദ്വിജന്മാരേ! ശൂലഭേദത്തിൽ തീർത്ഥങ്ങൾ സാഗ്രം ലക്ഷം (ഒരു ലക്ഷത്തിലധികം) നിലകൊള്ളുന്നു. ദേവഗ്രാമത്തിൽ തീർത്ഥങ്ങൾ സഹസ്രമെന്നു മുനി പ്രസ്താവിച്ചു.
Mārkaṇḍeya (as referenced in this adhyāya’s narration)
Tirtha: Śūlabheda; Devagrāma
Type: kshetra
Listener: Dvijāḥ / brāhmaṇas
Scene: A sage addressing brāhmaṇas on the banks of Revā, pointing to two sacred nodes—Śūlabheda and Devagrāma—while the riverbank is shown as studded with miniature shrines and bathing-ghāṭas symbolizing innumerable tīrthas.
FAQs
The verse magnifies specific sites as exceptionally meritorious, portraying them as ‘gathering points’ of countless tīrthas.
Śūlabheda (praised as exceeding a lakh tīrthas) and Devagrāma (praised as holding a thousand tīrthas).
None directly; the address to dvijas implies traditional tīrtha-observances such as purity, snāna, and charitable giving.