Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 21
दृष्ट्वा ता आगताः सर्वा गङ्गागर्भे महामतेः । षण्मुखैः षण्मुखो भूत्वा पिपासुरपिबत्स्तनम्
dṛṣṭvā tā āgatāḥ sarvā gaṅgāgarbhe mahāmateḥ | ṣaṇmukhaiḥ ṣaṇmukho bhūtvā pipāsurapibatstanam
جب اس نے اُن سب کو گنگا کے رحم مانند آشیانے میں آتے دیکھا تو وہ عظیمُ النفس چھ چہروں والا بن گیا، اور چھ دہانوں سے—پیاسا ہو کر—ان کا دودھ پی گیا۔
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced: Āvantya Khaṇḍa narrative style)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Gaṅgā-garbha motif)
Type: river
Listener: Bhārata (as addressed in the surrounding passage)
Scene: Within a luminous, womb-like hollow of the Gaṅgā’s waters, the six Kṛttikā mothers arrive; the child becomes six-faced, each mouth turned to a breast, drinking simultaneously; river-lotus, ripples, and divine radiance surround the scene.
FAQs
The Divine assumes forms suited to dharma’s needs—multiplicity of form can serve unity of purpose.
Gaṅgā is portrayed as a womb-like sacred refuge (gaṅgā-garbha), reinforcing her status as a supreme tīrtha.
No explicit ritual; it symbolically sanctifies nourishment and protection offered in sacred spaces.