Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 30

Devanagari script

गोदावर्य्यां भवेत्पुण्यं वसतो वर्षसंख्यया । तत्फलं समवाप्नोति गोमतीसेवनाद्द्विजाः

Transliteration

godāvaryyāṃ bhavetpuṇyaṃ vasato varṣasaṃkhyayā | tatphalaṃ samavāpnoti gomatīsevanāddvijāḥ

Translation

يا معشر الدِّوِجَة (المولودين مرتين)، إن البركة التي تنشأ من الإقامة على ضفاف غودافري (Godāvarī) سنينَ عديدة—تلك الثمرة بعينها تُنال بمجرد خدمة نهر غوماتي (Gomatī) والتردد عليه بتعبّد.

Word by Word

• godāvaryām: in the Godāvarī
• godāvaryām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: godāvarī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular)

• bhavet: would be / becomes
• bhavet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ्-लकार (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद

• puṇyam: merit
• puṇyam: Karta (Predicate nominal/कर्ता-समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṇya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• vasataḥ: of one who dwells
• vasataḥ: Sambandha (Genitive of agent/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vas (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), एकवचन (Singular)

• varṣasaṃkhyayā: by (a count of) years / for many years
• varṣasaṃkhyayā: Karana (Measure/means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa-saṃkhyā (प्रातिपदिक; वर्ष + संख्या)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन (Singular)

• tat: that
• tat: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular); विशेषण (qualifier)

• phalam: fruit/result
• phalam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: phala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• samavāpnoti: attains
• samavāpnoti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ava-āp (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद

• gomatīsevanāt: from serving/visiting the Gomatī
• gomatīsevanāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gomatī-sevana (प्रातिपदिक; गोमती + सेवन)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन (Singular)

• dvijāḥ: O Brahmins
• dvijāḥ: Sambodhana/Anuvada (Addressed audience/सम्बोधन-प्राय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

Speaker

Sūta (deduced from Prabhāsakhaṇḍa māhātmya-style narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gomatī (Dvārakā)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Dvijāḥ (twice-born) as addressed audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee repeatedly visits the Gomatī ghāṭa, sweeping steps, offering water and lamps, greeting brāhmaṇas; a faint overlay shows distant Godāvarī landscapes symbolically ‘contained’ within Gomatī’s sanctity.

Characters & Entities

• Godāvarī
• Gomatī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotional contact and service to a powerful tīrtha can bestow vast merit, even comparable to long austerities elsewhere.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Gomati river/tīrtha associated with Dvārakā is praised as exceptionally merit-giving.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Tīrtha-sevā—reverent attendance upon and devotional association with the Gomati.