Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 77
तीर्थमन्यैरिति ख्यातं बालकानां हितावहम् । रोगार्तानां भयार्तानामस्माकं वचनात्सदा
tīrthamanyairiti khyātaṃ bālakānāṃ hitāvaham | rogārtānāṃ bhayārtānāmasmākaṃ vacanātsadā
“Thánh địa này cũng sẽ được người đời ca tụng như một tīrtha đem lại an lành cho trẻ thơ—luôn luôn, theo lời chúng tôi—cho những ai khổ vì bệnh tật và những ai khổ vì sợ hãi.”
Ṛṣis (the sages)
Tirtha: Bālasakhya-tīrtha (also ‘tīrtham anyair iti khyātam’)
Type: ghat
Listener: Dvija addressed earlier; broader pilgrim audience implied
Scene: Pilgrims arrive with sick or frightened children; sages proclaim the tīrtha’s fame as ‘balakānāṃ hitāvaham’; the river-ghāṭa and shrine form a compassionate sanctuary.
FAQs
A tīrtha’s greatness is measured by compassion—its power to relieve suffering, especially for vulnerable children.
Bālasakhya-tīrtha (the child-welfare tīrtha) in Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya.
Implied use of the tīrtha for relief—contextually fulfilled through bathing (snāna) described in the next verses.