Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 60
यदा सर्वेषु तीर्थेषु स्नात्वापि च मुहुर्मुहुः । न निवृत्ता ब्रह्महत्या मिथिलामाययौ तदा । बाह्योद्यानगतस्तस्याश्चिंतया परयार्दितः
yadā sarveṣu tīrtheṣu snātvāpi ca muhurmuhuḥ | na nivṛttā brahmahatyā mithilāmāyayau tadā | bāhyodyānagatastasyāściṃtayā parayārditaḥ
Khi đã tắm gội hết thảy các thánh địa, lại tắm đi tắm lại nhiều lần mà tội brahmahatyā (sát hại Bà-la-môn) vẫn chưa lắng, bấy giờ ông liền đến Mithilā. Tại đó, bước vào khu vườn bên ngoài, ông bị dày vò bởi nỗi lo âu mãnh liệt.
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator, contextually Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa)
Tirtha: Mithilā-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A guilt-stricken king, after countless pilgrim baths, arrives at Mithilā and stands in the outer garden, head bowed, hands clasped, surrounded by quiet trees and a sense of moral weight.
FAQs
External rites like repeated tīrtha-bathing may be insufficient without the right guidance and inner transformation; one must seek true dharmic remedy.
No single tīrtha is singled out; the verse frames a pilgrimage to many tīrthas and then the arrival at Mithilā as the narrative setting.
Repeated tīrtha-snān (bathing at sacred places) is mentioned, but it is shown as not giving relief in this case.