Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 135
गोकर्णं शिवलोकस्य नृणां सोपानपद्धतिः । शृणु राजन्नहमपि गोकर्णा दधुनागतः
gokarṇaṃ śivalokasya nṛṇāṃ sopānapaddhatiḥ | śṛṇu rājannahamapi gokarṇā dadhunāgataḥ
கோகர்ணம் மனிதர்களுக்கு சிவலோகத்தை அடையும் படிக்கட்டுப் பாதையாகும். அரசே, கேளுங்கள்—நானும் இப்பொழுதே கோகர்ணத்திலிருந்து வந்தேன்.
Gautama (deduced from immediate narrative continuity into Adhyāya 3 where he speaks)
Tirtha: Gokarṇa
Type: kshetra
Listener: A king (राजन्)
Scene: A revered narrator addresses a king, pointing toward a distant vision of Gokarṇa’s shrine as a luminous stairway rising into a celestial Śiva-loka; pilgrims ascend symbolic steps made of mantra, snāna, and devotion.
FAQs
A tīrtha is not merely a place to visit—it is portrayed as a spiritual ladder toward liberation and Śiva’s abode.
Gokarṇa.
No explicit ritual here; it proclaims the salvific status of the site and introduces eyewitness authority (the speaker has come from there).