Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 26
प्रेता ऊचुः । वयं प्रेता महाभाग दूरादिह समागताः । श्रुत्वा तीर्थवरं पुण्यं प्रवेशं न लभामहे
pretā ūcuḥ | vayaṃ pretā mahābhāga dūrādiha samāgatāḥ | śrutvā tīrthavaraṃ puṇyaṃ praveśaṃ na labhāmahe
Para preta berkata: “Wahai insan mulia! Kami ini para preta, datang dari jauh ke sini. Setelah mendengar tentang tīrtha yang paling suci dan penuh pahala ini, kami tidak mampu memperoleh izin untuk memasukinya.”
Pretas
Tirtha: Prabhāsa (tīrtha-vara)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A group of pretas, weary from long wandering, plead at the boundary of Prabhāsa: they have heard of the supreme tīrtha but cannot gain entry; their faces show longing and despair against the radiant sanctity beyond.
FAQs
The holiness of a tīrtha is so potent that even suffering beings yearn for it; yet entry implies spiritual readiness and the working of unseen guardianship.
A ‘tīrtha-vara’ identified in context with Preta-tīrtha/Gātra-vimocana within Prabhāsa-kṣetra.
No explicit rite; the verse emphasizes the desire for tīrtha-access as a prerequisite for purification and relief.