Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 29
देवस्य सन्निधौ भूत्वा वर्णयामासुरुत्तमम् । इदं तीर्थं तु देवेश गयातीर्थेन ते समम्
devasya sannidhau bhūtvā varṇayāmāsuruttamam | idaṃ tīrthaṃ tu deveśa gayātīrthena te samam
ప్రభువు సన్నిధిలో నిలిచి వారు ఆ ఉత్తమ మహాత్మ్యాన్ని వర్ణించారు—“హే దేవేశా! ఈ తీర్థం పుణ్యఫలంలో ప్రసిద్ధ గయాతీర్థంతో సమానం.”
Deductively: a Purāṇic narrator (likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa) recounting the māhātmya within Revā Khaṇḍa
Tirtha: Revā-khaṇḍa tīrtha proclaimed ‘Gayā-tīrtha-sama’
Type: kshetra
Scene: A divine assembly: devas stand before the Lord at the tīrtha, offering formal praise; the river/confluence glows behind, and the words ‘equal to Gayā’ are visually suggested through symbolic offerings to ancestors (tilodaka) or a faint Gayā silhouette motif.
FAQs
A tīrtha becomes supremely transformative when honored in the Lord’s presence and understood as equal in merit to renowned pilgrimage centers.
A Revā Khaṇḍa tīrtha in the Narmadā sacred geography, explicitly compared to Gayā-tīrtha in sanctity.
No direct ritual is prescribed here; the verse focuses on praise (stuti/varṇana) and the tīrtha’s equivalence in merit.