Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 15
राम उवाच । पितरो यदि तुष्टा मे यच्छंति यदि वांछितम् । तस्मात्तीर्थमिदं पुण्यं मन्नाम्ना लोकविश्रुतम् । रक्तदोषविनिर्मुक्तं सेवितं वरतापसैः
rāma uvāca | pitaro yadi tuṣṭā me yacchaṃti yadi vāṃchitam | tasmāttīrthamidaṃ puṇyaṃ mannāmnā lokaviśrutam | raktadoṣavinirmuktaṃ sevitaṃ varatāpasaiḥ
Rāma berkata: «Jika para Pitṛ (leluhur)ku berkenan dan mengurniakan apa yang kuingini, maka biarlah tīrtha suci ini termasyhur di dunia dengan namaku—bebas daripada cela dosa pertumpahan darah, dan diziarahi para tapa yang unggul dalam vrata.»
Rāma
Tirtha: Rāmahrada (proposed)
Type: kund
Listener: Pitṛs (ancestors)
Scene: Rāma stands at a quiet water-hollow formed by offerings to the ancestors; he declares a vow that the place become a famed tīrtha, purified of blood-guilt, while austere sages gather nearby.
FAQs
A tīrtha becomes spiritually potent not only by geography but by dharmic intention—purity, truthfulness, and ancestral blessing sanctify a place for all.
The holy site is the tīrtha that will become famous by Rāma’s name—later declared as Rāmahrada.
The verse frames a boon: establishing a tīrtha renowned for purity (freedom from rakta-doṣa) and fit for ascetic practice; it implies pilgrimage and devotional resort to the site.