Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 2
मार्कण्डेय उवाच । पृथिव्यां यानि तीर्थानि देवैर्मुनिगणैरपि । सेवितानि महाबाहो तानि ध्यातानि विष्णुना
mārkaṇḍeya uvāca | pṛthivyāṃ yāni tīrthāni devairmunigaṇairapi | sevitāni mahābāho tāni dhyātāni viṣṇunā
मार्कण्डेय म्हणाले—हे महाबाहो! पृथ्वीवरील जी जी तीर्थे देव आणि मुनिगणांनीही सेविली आहेत, ती सर्व विष्णूंनी ध्यानात धारण केलेली आहेत.
Mārkaṇḍeya
Tirtha: Devātīrtha (implied as culmination of ‘all tīrthas’)
Type: tirtha
Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira
Scene: Mārkaṇḍeya speaks expansively, gesturing as if encompassing the whole earth’s tīrthas; behind him, a symbolic montage of rivers, ghāṭas, and sages performing austerities, with a subtle Viṣṇu presence (lotus, conch, or faint four-armed silhouette) indicating ‘dhyāta by Viṣṇu’.
FAQs
Tīrthas are not merely geographic; they are upheld in divine awareness—linking pilgrimage to cosmic dharma.
The verse speaks broadly of all earthly tīrthas, setting the stage for Devātīrtha’s special status.
No direct prescription; it asserts tīrtha-sevā (reverent resorting to holy places) as a revered practice of gods and sages.