Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 22
जीवन्मुक्तो नरः प्रोक्तो नैव लिप्य ति पातकैः । व्रतं कृतं सकृदपि सदैव हि महाफलम्
jīvanmukto naraḥ prokto naiva lipya ti pātakaiḥ | vrataṃ kṛtaṃ sakṛdapi sadaiva hi mahāphalam
Orang demikian disebut “jīvanmukta”, yakni terbebas ketika masih hidup, dan tidak ternoda oleh dosa. Bahkan satu kali pelaksanaan vrata (nazar suci) pun sesungguhnya sentiasa berbuah besar.
Skanda (deduced; exact speaker not stated in snippet)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A serene liberated pilgrim walking through a tīrtha crowd untouched by symbolic ‘stains’ (dark wisps dissolving before reaching him); a radiant aura of calm; a small vow-token (tulasī, sacred thread, vrata-mark) indicating the once-performed vow whose fruit endures.
FAQs
Sincere observance purifies so deeply that one is described as jīvanmukta, and even a single rightly-done vrata yields enduring great merit.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the focus is the mahātmya (greatness) of vrata within the broader tīrtha narrative.
The prescription is vrata-performance itself, emphasized as highly efficacious even if undertaken once.