Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 39
न तीर्थैर्न च दानैश्च दुष्कृतं हि विलुप्यते । अज्ञानाच्च प्रमादाच्च कृतं पापं विनश्यति
na tīrthairna ca dānaiśca duṣkṛtaṃ hi vilupyate | ajñānācca pramādācca kṛtaṃ pāpaṃ vinaśyati
தீர்த்த யாத்திரையாலும் தானத்தாலும் மட்டும் தீச்செயல் உண்மையில் அழியாது. ஆனால் அறியாமை, அலட்சியம் காரணமாக செய்த பாவம்—விவேகம், கட்டுப்பாடு விழித்தால்—நாசமடையலாம்.
Nandī (deduced)
Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (general)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A pilgrim stands between two paths: one labeled ‘tīrtha-dāna only’ leading to a loop back into darkness; the other labeled ‘jñāna + saṃyama’ leading to light. River water reflects a clear mind as the pilgrim drops a weapon/vice into the river and takes a vow of restraint.
FAQs
Pilgrimage and charity are not substitutes for moral reform; deliberate wrongdoing is not cancelled by external piety.
The teaching appears in the Revā Khaṇḍa (Narmadā context), framing tīrtha-benefit as dependent on ethical intent.
Tīrtha-yātrā and dāna are mentioned, but the prescription is implicit: use them with repentance and correction, not as a cover for intentional sin.