Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 19
पूजयिष्यंति ये केचिदपि पापपरायणाः । मया सार्धं करिष्यंति ततः स्पर्द्धां नगोत्तम
pūjayiṣyaṃti ye kecidapi pāpaparāyaṇāḥ | mayā sārdhaṃ kariṣyaṃti tataḥ sparddhāṃ nagottama
اے بہترین پہاڑ! جو کوئی بھی گناہ میں ڈوبا ہوا ہو، وہ بھی وہاں جا کر پوجا کرے گا؛ اور پھر ثواب میں میرے ساتھ رقابت کرنے لگے گا۔
Indra
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Nāga-bila
Type: cave
Listener: Himācala (Nāgottama addressed)
Scene: Indra proclaims to the mountain that even hardened sinners will come to worship Hāṭakeśvara at the Nāga-bila, gaining such merit that they rival Indra himself—crowds of diverse pilgrims approaching a cave-shrine with offerings.
FAQs
A powerful tīrtha and sincere worship can uplift even the fallen; sacred sites are portrayed as engines of moral and spiritual transformation.
Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra/Nāga-bila, whose worship-bestowing power is so great it rivals even Indra’s merit.
Pūjā (worship) is mentioned generally; no detailed procedure is specified in the verse.