Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 1
स्कंद उवाच । आकर्णय क्षोणिसुर यथा स्थाणुरचीकरत् । गंगावरणयोः पुण्यात्संभेदात्तीर्थभूमिकाम्
skaṃda uvāca | ākarṇaya kṣoṇisura yathā sthāṇuracīkarat | gaṃgāvaraṇayoḥ puṇyātsaṃbhedāttīrthabhūmikām
斯堪陀曰：请听，地上之神圣者（王啊），且说常住者（Sthāṇu，湿婆）如何由恒河（Gaṅgā）与伐楼那河（Varuṇā）的吉祥汇合，建立圣渡之地（tīrtha-bhūmi）。
Skanda
Tirtha: Gaṅgā–Varuṇā Saṅgama
Type: sangam
Listener: A king (addressed as kṣoṇisura)
Scene: Skanda narrates to a king: the two rivers meet; Śiva (Sthāṇu) stands at the saṅgama and consecrates the ground, marking it as a tīrtha with divine presence and subtle radiance over the waters.
FAQs
Tīrthas are not merely locations but sanctified spaces established by divine will; confluences (saṅgamas) are especially potent in Purāṇic dharma.
The confluence of the Gaṅgā and the Varuṇā in the Kāśī region is introduced as a foundational tīrtha-setting.
No direct rite here; it begins the account of how the tīrtha-ground came to be established.