Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 57

Devanagari script

किं दानैः किं तपोभिश्च किं तीर्थपरिमज्जनैः । धरातीर्थे यदि स्नातं पुनर्भव मलापहे

Transliteration

kiṃ dānaiḥ kiṃ tapobhiśca kiṃ tīrthaparimajjanaiḥ | dharātīrthe yadi snātaṃ punarbhava malāpahe

Translation

ما الحاجة إلى الصدقات، وما الحاجة إلى الرياضات والزهد، وما الحاجة حتى إلى الغطس مرارًا في معابر مقدّسة أخرى، إذا كان المرء قد اغتسل في «دهارا-تيرثا» مُزيلِ دنسِ تكرار الميلاد؟

Word by Word

• किम्: what (use)
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; interrogative pronoun used idiomatically ‘what use?’

• दानैः: with gifts, by donations
• दानैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; Instrumental plural

• किम्: what (use)
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; interrogative (repeated)

• तपोभिः: with austerities
• तपोभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; Instrumental plural

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चय-निपात (conjunction)

• किम्: what (use)
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; interrogative (repeated)

• तीर्थपरिमज्जनैः: with immersions/bathings in pilgrim waters
• तीर्थपरिमज्जनैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक) + परि√मज्ज् (धातु) → परिमज्जन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (तीर्थस्य परिमज्जनम्); Instrumental plural

• धरातीर्थे: at the sacred ford of the Earth (i.e., on earth)
• धरातीर्थे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धरा (प्रातिपदिक) + तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (अधिकरण), एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (धरायाः तीर्थम्); Locative singular

• यदि: if
• यदि: Sambandha (Condition/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, शर्त-निपात (conditional particle: if)

• स्नातम्: (has been) bathed
• स्नातम्: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्नात (√स्ना धातु, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; here used predicatively ‘(it is) bathed/one has bathed’ (impersonal/elliptic)

• पुनर्भव: rebirth
• पुनर्भव: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुनर्भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (पुनः भवः = rebirth); Nominative singular

• मलापहे: O remover of impurity
• मलापहे: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मल (प्रातिपदिक) + अपह (√अपहृ धातु, ण्वुल्/घञ्-प्रत्ययादि)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी/सम्बोधन?; एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (मलस्य अपहः/अपहर्ता = remover of impurity). पदरूप ‘मलापहे’ सम्भवतः सम्बोधन-एकवचन (हे मलापह) / अथवा सप्तमी-एकवचन; contextually vocative to Śiva/Kāśī

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dharā-tīrtha

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Pilgrims descend stone steps to a calm ford named Dharā-tīrtha; the water gleams as if washing away a dark film labeled ‘punarbhava-mala’; offerings and lamps frame the scene.

Characters & Entities

• Dharā-tīrtha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A supremely potent tīrtha can confer merits comparable to many other practices, when approached with faith and purity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dharā-tīrtha, praised as ‘punarbhava-malāpa’—a remover of the stain of rebirth.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (sacred bathing) at Dharā-tīrtha is prescribed as especially meritorious.