Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 63
षोडशांशं स लभते यः पराथं च गच्छति । अर्धं तीर्थफलं तस्य यः प्रसंगेन गच्छति
ṣoḍaśāṃśaṃ sa labhate yaḥ parāthaṃ ca gacchati | ardhaṃ tīrthaphalaṃ tasya yaḥ prasaṃgena gacchati
जो दुसऱ्याच्या हेतुने तीर्थास जातो, त्याला पूर्ण फळाचा केवळ सोळावा अंश मिळतो. पण जो प्रसंगाने जातो, त्याला तीर्थफळाचे अर्धे फळ मिळते.
Skanda
Tirtha: Generic tīrtha (within Kāśī discourse)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: Two travelers at a crossroads: one going on an errand for another, distracted; another who stumbles upon the tīrtha and pauses in reverence—visualizing differential merit.
FAQs
The fruit of pilgrimage is graded; the inner orientation and context of one’s journey shape the measure of tīrtha-merit received.
Tīrthas in general, as part of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s broader praise of sacred geography culminating in Avimukta (Kāśī).
No specific rite is prescribed; the verse gives a dharmic valuation of pilgrimage merit based on the purpose of travel.