Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 11
आदौ धर्मनदः पुण्यो मिश्रितो धूतपापया । यया धूतानि पापानि सर्वतीर्थीकृतात्मना
ādau dharmanadaḥ puṇyo miśrito dhūtapāpayā | yayā dhūtāni pāpāni sarvatīrthīkṛtātmanā
Sa pasimula, ang banal na ilog na Dharmanadā ay nakipagtagpo sa Dhūtapāpā—siya na sa pamamagitan niya nahuhugasan ang mga kasalanan, at ang likas na diwa ay ginawang parang lahat ng tīrtha sa kabuuan.
Skanda (beginning the explanatory narrative of Pañcanada’s formation)
Tirtha: Dharmanadā–Dhūtapāpā Saṅgama (within Pañcanada complex)
Type: sangam
Scene: Two personified rivers—Dharmanadā and Dhūtapāpā—meet in a luminous confluence; pilgrims stand with folded hands as the waters glow with sanctity.
FAQs
Tīrthas gain extraordinary power through sacred confluences; contact with such waters symbolizes and effects the washing away of sin and inner renewal.
The forming confluence that leads to Pañcanada Tīrtha in Kāśī, beginning with Dharmanadā joining Dhūtapāpā.
Not stated as a command, but the language of ‘sins washed away’ strongly implies snāna (ritual bathing) and tīrtha-sevā at the confluence.