Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 34
तीर्थस्नानार्थिनी नारी पतिपादोदकं पिबेत् । शंकरादपि विष्णोर्वा पतिरेकोधिकः स्त्रियाः
tīrthasnānārthinī nārī patipādodakaṃ pibet | śaṃkarādapi viṣṇorvā patirekodhikaḥ striyāḥ
Seorang wanita yang mendambakan pahala mandi di tīrtha hendaklah meminum air basuhan kaki suaminya. Dalam dharma rumahtangga, bagi seorang isteri, suami dipandang lebih utama bahkan daripada Śaṅkara atau Viṣṇu.
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Inside a modest Kāśī household courtyard: a devoted wife offers water at her husband’s feet; a small lota and copper vessel; in the background, a faint silhouette of Viśvanātha temple spire and Gaṅgā ghāṭ steps, suggesting the ‘tīrtha within the home’.
FAQs
It emphasizes gṛhastha-dharma: for a married woman, devoted service to the husband is presented as a principal religious discipline yielding tīrtha-like merit.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it uses the idea of tīrtha-bathing as a benchmark for merit within the Kāśī-khaṇḍa discourse.
Drinking the water from washing the husband’s feet (pati-pādodaka) is prescribed as a devotional act associated with tīrtha-like merit.