Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 55
पयोष्णी च शतद्रुश्च तथा धर्मनदी शुभा । एताश्चान्याश्च सरितः सर्वपापहराः स्मृताः
payoṣṇī ca śatadruśca tathā dharmanadī śubhā | etāścānyāśca saritaḥ sarvapāpaharāḥ smṛtāḥ
Banal din ang Payoṣṇī, ang Śatadru, at ang mapagpala at mabuting Dharmanadī. Ang mga ito at iba pang ilog ay inaalala bilang tagapawi ng lahat ng kasalanan.
Mārkaṇḍeya
Tirtha: Payoṣṇī, Śatadru, Dharmanadī (and other sacred rivers)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Pilgrims bathe at different rivers—some in plains, some near hills—while a sage’s concluding statement frames all these waters as ‘sarvapāpa-harāḥ’; the water is depicted washing away dark stains that dissolve into light.
FAQs
Rivers are treated as living tīrthas whose sanctity supports purification and dharmic renewal.
A network of river-tīrthas is praised; the narrative is moving toward Revā (Narmadā) as exceptional among them.
No explicit injunction; the verse provides a doctrinal basis for tīrtha-snāna and pilgrimage.