Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 54
दुर्बुद्धयो दुराचारा हैतुका बहुसंशयाः । पश्यंति मोहिता विष्णो गंगामन्य नदीमिव
durbuddhayo durācārā haitukā bahusaṃśayāḥ | paśyaṃti mohitā viṣṇo gaṃgāmanya nadīmiva
اے وِشنو! کم فہم، بدکردار، جھگڑالو اور بہت سے شکوک رکھنے والے لوگ، فریب میں پڑ کر گنگا کو گویا کسی اور ندی کی طرح دیکھتے ہیں۔
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā
Type: river
Listener: Viṣṇu (vocative ‘viṣṇo’ in verse)
Scene: Two groups at the riverbank: devotees bowing to Gaṅgā with lamps and flowers; skeptics with dismissive gestures and debating posture, their faces clouded; Gaṅgā appears subtly as a goddess to the devotees but remains ‘just water’ to the deluded.
FAQs
Spiritual blindness and excessive doubt prevent one from recognizing the unique sanctity of a tīrtha like Gaṅgā.
Gaṅgā, distinguished from ordinary rivers within the Kāśī sacred worldview.
No direct ritual is prescribed; the verse prescribes right vision—reverent recognition of Gaṅgā’s māhātmya.