Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 48
अनुषंगेण मौल्येन वाणिज्येनापि सेवया । कामासक्तोपि वा मर्त्यो गंगास्नातो दिवं व्रजेत्
anuṣaṃgeṇa maulyena vāṇijyenāpi sevayā | kāmāsaktopi vā martyo gaṃgāsnāto divaṃ vrajet
اگرچہ فانی انسان خواہشات میں گرفتار ہو، پھر بھی اگر وہ گنگا میں اشنان کرے—چاہے اتفاقی چھو سے، قیمت دے کر، تجارت کے ذریعے یا خدمت کے سبب—وہ آسمان/جنت کو جا سکتا ہے۔
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Kāśī)
Type: ghat
Scene: A bustling Kāśī ghat with merchants, boatmen, servants, and pilgrims—some worldly-minded—yet all entering Gaṅgā’s waters; above, a subtle divine radiance indicates svarga-mārga opening.
FAQs
Gaṅgā’s sanctity is so great that even imperfectly motivated contact with her bathing can yield exalted merit.
The Gaṅgā tīrtha (especially as encountered in Kāśī).
Gaṅgā-snāna (ritual bathing in the Gaṅgā), with the note that it may occur even incidentally or through worldly circumstances.