Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 68
भूयश्चापि प्रसिद्ध्यर्थं प्रेषिताप्सरसोऽत्र मे । विमोक्षिता ग्राहरूपात्त्वया ताश्च कुरूद्वह
bhūyaścāpi prasiddhyarthaṃ preṣitāpsaraso'tra me | vimokṣitā grāharūpāttvayā tāśca kurūdvaha
پھر مزید یہ کہ اس مقام کی زیادہ شہرت کے لیے میری اپسرائیں یہاں بھیجی گئیں؛ اور اے کُروؤں میں برتر، تم نے انہیں مگرمچھ کی صورت سے رہائی دی۔
Narratorial voice within Sūta’s discourse (context suggests address to Arjuna as listener in the embedded story)
Tirtha: Guptakṣetra (liberation-tīrtha episode)
Type: tirtha
Listener: Kuru-dvaha (best of the Kurus)
Scene: Apsarases trapped in crocodile bodies in sacred waters are released by the heroic figure addressed as ‘best of Kurus’; the crocodile forms dissolve, revealing radiant celestial women rising from the water, while the kṣetra’s fame spreads.
FAQs
Sacred sites become renowned through acts of liberation and grace; rescuing the afflicted is itself a tīrtha-like merit.
The verse supports the renown (prasiddhi) of the local kṣetra/tīrtha (Guptakṣetra context), marked by a liberation-legend.
No explicit rite; the emphasis is on dharmic action—freeing beings from bondage—as spiritually efficacious within the kṣetra.