Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 15
सर्ववर्णाश्रमेभ्यश्च वेदविद्भ्यश्च वै तथा । शास्त्रार्थपारगेभ्यश्च गंगास्नायी विशिष्यते
sarvavarṇāśramebhyaśca vedavidbhyaśca vai tathā | śāstrārthapāragebhyaśca gaṃgāsnāyī viśiṣyate
گنگا میں اشنان کرنے والا برتر سمجھا جاتا ہے—تمام ورنوں اور آشرموں والوں سے بھی، وید کے جاننے والوں سے بھی، اور شاستروں کے معانی میں مہارت رکھنے والوں سے بھی۔
Skanda
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Kāśī)
Type: ghat
Scene: On a Kāśī ghāṭa, diverse figures—brahmacārin, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsin; scholars holding palm-leaf manuscripts—stand beside a simple pilgrim emerging from Gaṅgā; a subtle radiance surrounds the bather, indicating ‘viśiṣyate’.
FAQs
Sacred contact with Gaṅgā is portrayed as an exceptional purifier, surpassing even status and scholarship when approached as tīrtha-dharma.
Gaṅgā-snāna in the Kāśī milieu, exalted as uniquely meritorious.
Snāna (ritual bathing) in the Gaṅgā is the explicit practice praised.