Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 132
विवादे च समुत्पन्ने अपराधी च यो मतः । जलहस्तः सदा वाच्यो महीसागरसंगमे
vivāde ca samutpanne aparādhī ca yo mataḥ | jalahastaḥ sadā vācyo mahīsāgarasaṃgame
เมื่อเกิดข้อพิพาทและผู้ใดถูกเห็นว่าเป็นผู้ผิด ณ สังฆมมหีกับมหาสมุทร ผู้นั้นพึงถูกให้ทำการพิสูจน์ ‘ชลหัตถะ’ (มือในน้ำ) อยู่เสมอ
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) speaking to the sages (deduced)
Tirtha: Mahīsāgara-saṅgama
Type: sangam
Scene: A public dispute scene at the confluence: elders/priestly figures preside; the accused steps forward to perform jala-hasta—hand immersed/raised with water as the divine witness—while the river-sea horizon looms solemnly.
FAQs
Dharma is upheld through sacred procedures: tīrthas are portrayed as places where truth is tested and wrongdoing is exposed.
Mahī–Sāgara Saṅgama.
The jala-hasta—an ordeal/test involving water and the hand, used as a dhārmic proof in disputes.