Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 80
वारुणादपि चाग्नेयाद्वायव्यादपि चेंद्रतः । मंत्रस्थानादपि परं ब्राह्मं स्नानमिदं परम् । ब्राह्मस्नानेन यः स्नातः स बाह्याभ्यंतरं शुचिः
vāruṇādapi cāgneyādvāyavyādapi ceṃdrataḥ | maṃtrasthānādapi paraṃ brāhmaṃ snānamidaṃ param | brāhmasnānena yaḥ snātaḥ sa bāhyābhyaṃtaraṃ śuciḥ
वारुण-स्नान, आग्नेय-स्नान, वायव्य-स्नान आणि इंद्र-स्नान यांहूनही श्रेष्ठ—आणि केवळ ‘मंत्रस्थान’ याहूनही परे—हे परम ब्राह्म-स्नान आहे. जो ब्राह्म-स्नानाने स्नान करतो तो बाह्य व आंतरिक दोन्ही प्रकारे शुद्ध होतो.
Skanda (deduced from Dharmāraṇya-khaṇḍa narrative style within Brahmakhaṇḍa)
Tirtha: Brāhma-snāna (conceptual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A contemplative ascetic at a riverbank performs snāna while a luminous ‘brahmic’ radiance rises from the heart-lotus, surpassing the four elemental deities who stand as witnesses (Varuṇa with noose, Agni with flames, Vāyu with billowing scarf, Indra with vajra).
FAQs
The highest purification is the Brāhma-bath—purity rooted in Brahman/inner sanctity—surpassing merely external ritual categories.
The verse emphasizes the principle of inner sanctification rather than naming a single tīrtha; it fits Dharmāraṇya’s teaching that true tīrtha is purity of consciousness.
It recommends ‘Brāhma snāna’—a superior purificatory bath understood as mantra-informed, inwardly grounded purification.