Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 26
तीर्थानि यानि कानि स्युरश्वमेधादयो मखाः । कृष्णजन्माष्टमीं पौत्र यः करोति विशेषतः
tīrthāni yāni kāni syuraśvamedhādayo makhāḥ | kṛṣṇajanmāṣṭamīṃ pautra yaḥ karoti viśeṣataḥ
जितकी तीर्थे असोत आणि अश्वमेधादि यज्ञ असोत—हे पौत्रा, जो श्रीकृष्ण-जन्माष्टमी विशेष भक्तीने करतो, तो त्या सर्वांचे संक्षिप्त पुण्यफळ प्राप्त करतो.
Skanda (deduced from Dvārakā Māhātmya narration style within Skanda Purāṇa)
Tirtha: Dvārakā (contextual) / Janmāṣṭamī-vrata (event-tīrtha)
Type: kshetra
Listener: pautra (grandson) addressed in verse
Scene: A night-time Janmāṣṭamī observance in Dvārakā: devotees with lamps and tulasī, a cradle (jhūlā) for infant Kṛṣṇa, conch and bells, with the sea-city backdrop; symbolic scales showing Aśvamedha and many tīrthas outweighed by the single vrata.
FAQs
A single heartfelt observance of Janmāṣṭamī is portrayed as spiritually weighty—rivaling the merit of great tīrthas and major sacrifices.
Rather than one site, the verse generalizes ‘all tīrthas’ and redirects focus to Janmāṣṭamī devotion.
Observance (vrata/celebration) of Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī ‘viśeṣataḥ’—with special devotion and emphasis.