Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 5
देवदेव उवाच । शृणु देवि विशालाक्षि तीर्थं लिंगमुदाहृतम् । जलाशयेपि तीर्थाख्या जाता मूर्ति परिग्रहात्
devadeva uvāca | śṛṇu devi viśālākṣi tīrthaṃ liṃgamudāhṛtam | jalāśayepi tīrthākhyā jātā mūrti parigrahāt
தேவதேவன் கூறினான்—ஓ விசாலாட்சி தேவியே, கேள்; தீர்த்தம் லிங்கம் எனப் பிரகடனப்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. வெறும் நீர்த்தேக்கமும், தெய்வமூர்த்தி அதில் உறைவதை ஏற்றுக் கொண்டால், ‘தீர்த்தம்’ எனப் பெயர் பெறுகிறது।
Śiva (Devadeva)
Tirtha: General tīrtha principle (applied to Kāśī)
Type: kund
Listener: Agastya (frame); Devī is the immediate addressee in the quoted dialogue
Scene: Śiva instructs Devī: ‘A tīrtha is called a liṅga; even a reservoir becomes a tīrtha when a divine form is accepted there.’ Visualize a calm pond with a nearby liṅga shrine and consecration aura.
FAQs
A tīrtha is not merely physical geography; it becomes spiritually potent through divine presence—especially through liṅga/mūrti sanctification.
Not a single named site; the verse gives a general Kāśīkhaṇḍa principle explaining how tīrthas (including ponds) gain sacred status.
Implicitly, worship/recognition of liṅga or mūrti as the sanctifying principle behind tīrtha identity.