Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9
सर्वेषामग्रतो भूत्वा पाताले हाटकेश्वरम् । यश्चादौ तत्र गत्वा च नेक्षयिष्यति तं हरम् । सर्वेषां श्रमजं पापं तस्यैकस्य भविष्यति
sarveṣāmagrato bhūtvā pātāle hāṭakeśvaram | yaścādau tatra gatvā ca nekṣayiṣyati taṃ haram | sarveṣāṃ śramajaṃ pāpaṃ tasyaikasya bhaviṣyati
“ผู้ใดนำหน้าทุกคนไปถึงพระหาฏเกศวรในบาดาล แล้วไปถึงก่อนแต่ไม่ถวายทัศนะต่อพระหระ (ศิวะ) นั้น บาปอันเกิดจากความเหน็ดเหนื่อยของทุกคนจักตกแก่ผู้นั้นผู้เดียว”
Sūta (reporting the sages’ pact/condition)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara
Type: cave
Scene: A dramatic threshold scene: a foremost sage at the edge of a cavernous netherworld gateway, others behind; the unseen Hāṭakeśvara presence implied; the warning of collective sin hangs in the air.
FAQs
Pilgrimage is not mere arrival; the goal is darśana with devotion—selfish rushing can turn sacred effort into burden and fault.
Hāṭakeśvara, described as accessible in/through Pātāla imagery, within the Vārāṇasī sacred narrative.
A conditional vow/pact is described: the first-arriver must obtain darśana, otherwise he bears the collective ‘toil-born’ demerit.