Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 34
यो लुब्धः पिशुनः क्रूरो दांभिको विषयात्मकः । सर्वतीर्थेष्वपि स्नातः पापो मलिन एव सः
yo lubdhaḥ piśunaḥ krūro dāṃbhiko viṣayātmakaḥ | sarvatīrtheṣvapi snātaḥ pāpo malina eva saḥ
जो लोभी, चुगलखोर, क्रूर, दांभिक आणि विषयासक्त आहे—तो सर्व तीर्थांत स्नान करूनही पापी व मलिनच राहतो.
Skanda
Tirtha: Sarva-tīrtha (all holy places)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A richly dressed pilgrim boasts after many baths; behind him shadow-figures of Lobha (clutching coins), Piśuna (forked tongue), Krūra (blood-stained hand), Dāmbhika (mask), Viṣaya-āsakti (chains to objects). Despite sacred rivers around, his aura remains dark—‘malina’.
FAQs
Pilgrimage without moral reform is ineffective; inner vices nullify outer rites.
The verse references ‘all tīrthas’ generally; in Kāśīkhaṇḍa it functions as a corrective to purely touristic pilgrimage in Kāśī.
No new rite is given; the prescription is to abandon greed, slander, cruelty, hypocrisy, and sensual obsession.