Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 26
न च स्नातानि तीर्थानि न दानानि कृतानि च । न च व्रतानि चीर्णानि कथमेनां निनीषथ
na ca snātāni tīrthāni na dānāni kṛtāni ca | na ca vratāni cīrṇāni kathamenāṃ ninīṣatha
അവൾ തീർത്ഥങ്ങളിൽ സ്നാനം ചെയ്തിട്ടില്ല; ദാനവും നൽകിയിട്ടില്ല; വ്രതങ്ങളും അനുഷ്ഠിച്ചിട്ടില്ല—അപ്പോൾ അവളെ ഉയർന്ന ലക്ഷ്യത്തിലേക്ക് എങ്ങനെ കൊണ്ടുപോകുമെന്നു നിങ്ങൾ പറയുന്നു?
Unspecified narrator/speaker addressing Śiva’s messengers (context: a questioning interlocutor)
Type: tirtha
Scene: A didactic tableau: a pilgrim route map or riverbank with ghāṭa steps in the background, while the speaker lists: no tīrtha baths, no gifts, no vows; the accused stands dry and unadorned, contrasted with devotees bathing and giving alms nearby.
FAQs
It contrasts conventional merit-making (tīrtha bathing, charity, vows) with the surprising reach of divine compassion that the narrative is about to reveal.
No named location appears; ‘tīrthas’ are referenced generically as pilgrimage places.
Tīrtha-snān (bathing at sacred places), dāna (charity), and vrata (vowed observances).