Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 71
इष्टाश्च विविधा यज्ञाः कोशसर्वस्वदक्षिणाः । सरित्सरांसि स्नातानि यानि पूज्यानि भूतले । निषेवितानि सर्वाणि क्षेत्राणि भ्रमता मया
iṣṭāśca vividhā yajñāḥ kośasarvasvadakṣiṇāḥ | saritsarāṃsi snātāni yāni pūjyāni bhūtale | niṣevitāni sarvāṇi kṣetrāṇi bhramatā mayā
विविधा इष्टा यज्ञाः कृताः, कोशसर्वस्वदक्षिणाः। भूतले पूज्यानि सरित्सरांसि स्नातानि; भ्रमता मया सर्वाणि क्षेत्राणि निषेवितानि, तथापि न मे मोक्षः प्राप्यते।
King (unnamed in the snippet)
Scene: A montage-like vision: sacrificial fires with priests receiving vast dakṣiṇā; the king bathing in rivers and lakes; walking through multiple sacred regions—ending with him still burdened, returning to the sage in despair.
FAQs
Even vast ritual merit—yajña, dāna, and tīrtha-yātrā—may not remove a specific grave sin without the precise dharmic remedy taught by realized sages.
The verse praises tīrthas in general—revered rivers, lakes, and sacred kṣetras—without naming a single location.
Performance of various yajñas with generous dakṣiṇā, and tīrtha-snān (bathing in sacred rivers and lakes) as pilgrimage practices.