Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 19
यत्र स्नातैर्नरैः सम्यक्सर्वेषां लभ्यते फलम् । ममाश्रयं विशालाक्षि सर्वपातकनाशनम् । कामदं च तथा नॄणां नारीणां च विशेषतः
yatra snātairnaraiḥ samyaksarveṣāṃ labhyate phalam | mamāśrayaṃ viśālākṣi sarvapātakanāśanam | kāmadaṃ ca tathā nṝṇāṃ nārīṇāṃ ca viśeṣataḥ
जिथे मनुष्य विधिपूर्वक स्नान करतात, तिथे सर्वांना फलप्राप्ती होते. हे विशालाक्षी! ते माझे आश्रयस्थान आहे—सर्व पातकांचा नाश करणारे; आणि पुरुषांना तसेच विशेषतः स्त्रियांना इच्छित वर देणारे.
Īśvara (Śiva)
Type: ghat
Listener: Devī (addressed as Viśālākṣi)
Scene: A sanctified bathing ghat at dawn; devotees—men and women—enter the water with folded hands; a protective divine presence is implied as the tīrtha’s ‘āśraya’; the atmosphere suggests sin-washing and boon-bestowal.
FAQs
A true tīrtha is both purifying and beneficent: it destroys sin and grants righteous desires when approached with proper practice.
The verse points to a Śiva-associated ‘mama-āśraya’ (my refuge/abode) but does not name it explicitly in this excerpt.
Samyak-snāna—bathing correctly (with due method and intent)—is the stated practice that yields fruit.