Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 53
अथाश्वमेधात्संप्राप्यं गयाश्राद्धेन यत्फलम् । नीलसंज्ञगवोत्सर्गे तथात्रापि द्विजोत्तमाः
athāśvamedhātsaṃprāpyaṃ gayāśrāddhena yatphalam | nīlasaṃjñagavotsarge tathātrāpi dvijottamāḥ
हे द्विजोत्तमांनो, अश्वमेधयज्ञ व गयाश्राद्ध यांपासून जे फळ मिळते, तेच फळ येथे ‘नीला’ नावाच्या गायीच्या उत्सर्गाने (दान/मुक्तीने)ही प्राप्त होते।
Sūta (contextual, continuing narration to the sages)
Tirtha: Śuklatīrtha
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis / dvijottamas addressed
Scene: At a radiant white tīrtha, a brāhmaṇa devotee ceremonially releases or gifts a cow (Nīlā) with garlands; priests witness; in the background, symbolic icons of Aśvamedha and Gayā-śrāddha appear as faint vignettes to show equivalence.
FAQs
Great tīrthas can bestow immense merit through accessible dharmic acts like go-dāna, equating them with major Vedic rites.
This verse continues the local tīrtha-mahātmya in Nāgara Khaṇḍa (Adhyāya 123), praising the place where Nīlā-named cow-gift yields supreme fruit.
Go-utsarga/go-dāna—ritually gifting or releasing a cow named “Nīlā” as a meritorious act.