Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 46
दिव्यांतरिक्षभौमानि सांनिध्यं यांति भामिनि । ततश्चाश्वासिता तैः सा सरस्वती पुनर्नदी । पातालतलमा साद्य जगाम मकरालयम्
divyāṃtarikṣabhaumāni sāṃnidhyaṃ yāṃti bhāmini | tataścāśvāsitā taiḥ sā sarasvatī punarnadī | pātālatalamā sādya jagāma makarālayam
Wahai wanita yang bersinar, segala tīrtha dan daya suci yang bersifat ilahi, di angkasa dan di bumi, datang menghampiri dalam kedekatan. Lalu dia—Sarasvatī, kembali sebagai sungai—ditenteramkan oleh mereka, mencapai alam Pātāla dan meneruskan perjalanan ke kediaman para makara, yakni lautan.
Narrator (Purāṇic narration, addressing ‘bhāmini’ within the story-context)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (with gupta Sarasvatī/oceanward passage motif)
Type: kshetra
Listener: A addressed ‘bhāminī/mahādevī’ (female interlocutor within the narrative frame)
Scene: Sarasvatī as a luminous river-goddess is surrounded by three-tiered presences—celestial beings above, airy spirits in mid-space, and earthly tīrtha-deities below—who console her; she then descends through a jeweled subterranean passage to Pātāla and emerges toward the vast ocean, the ‘abode of makaras.’
FAQs
Tīrthas operate across cosmic levels—heaven, mid-region, and earth—showing that pilgrimage is participation in a sacred, multi-layered universe.
The Prabhāsa-kṣetra tīrtha sphere is implied, with Sarasvatī’s course linking earthly tīrthas to subterranean realms and finally the ocean.
None explicitly; the verse is cosmographic, describing Sarasvatī’s movement and the supportive presence of tīrthas.