Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 89
अकलानिधयो रात्र्यो विपुष्पाश्चैव पादपाः । यथा तथैव ते देशा यत्र नास्त्यमरापगा
akalānidhayo rātryo vipuṣpāścaiva pādapāḥ | yathā tathaiva te deśā yatra nāstyamarāpagā
جیسے چاند کی کَلاؤں سے خالی راتیں اور بے پھول درخت، ویسے ہی وہ دیس ہیں جہاں اَمراپَگا—گنگا—موجود نہیں۔
Skanda
Tirtha: Amarāpagā (Gaṅgā)
Type: kshetra
Listener: general audience of pilgrims/seekers
Scene: A poetic contrast: barren landscapes—dark, phase-less nights and trees without flowers—set against a luminous Gaṅgā-banked land with blooming trees, moonlit ghāṭas, and thriving devotion.
FAQs
Divine presence sanctifies geography: without Gaṅgā, a region is compared to beauty and vitality removed—underscoring the value of sacred rivers and pilgrimage.
Gaṅgā (Amarāpagā), with the Kāśī Khaṇḍa emphasizing her role as the defining sacred feature of blessed lands.
No direct prescription; the implied exhortation is to seek Gaṅgā-associated tīrthas for purification, worship, and merit.