Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 41
मुच्यते न च पापेन चंडालत्वेन स द्विजाः । एवंविधेषु तीर्थेषु स्नातोपि च पृथक्पृथक्
mucyate na ca pāpena caṃḍālatvena sa dvijāḥ | evaṃvidheṣu tīrtheṣu snātopi ca pṛthakpṛthak
اے دو بار جنم لینے والو! وہ نہ گناہ سے چھوٹا اور نہ چنڈال ہونے کی حالت سے—اگرچہ اس نے ایسے تیर्थوں میں بار بار اشنان کیا تھا۔
Sūta (implied continuation)
Type: tirtha (generic)
Listener: dvijāḥ (addressed audience)
Scene: A weary pilgrim-king at multiple river-ghāṭs and ponds, repeatedly bathing yet still shadowed by a dark aura symbolizing unresolved pāpa/caṇḍālatva; sages observe with concern.
FAQs
External pilgrimage alone is not always sufficient; deeper causes of bondage require the right sacred encounter, grace, and inner transformation.
No single tīrtha is singled out; the verse contrasts many tīrtha-bathings with the lack of liberation from a particular condition.
Snāna (ritual bathing) is referenced, but shown as insufficient by itself in this narrative context.