Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 13

Devanagari script

कूपे स्नानं नरः कृत्वा भक्त्या यः पांडुनंदन । गयाश्राद्धेन यत्पुण्यं तत्फलं लभते स्फुटम्

Transliteration

kūpe snānaṃ naraḥ kṛtvā bhaktyā yaḥ pāṃḍunaṃdana | gayāśrāddhena yatpuṇyaṃ tatphalaṃ labhate sphuṭam

Translation

হে পাণ্ডুনন্দন! যি মানুহে ভক্তিভাৱে সেই কূপত স্নান কৰে, সি গয়াত শ্ৰাদ্ধ কৰাত যি পুণ্য লাভ হয়, সেই একে ফল স্পষ্টভাৱে লাভ কৰে।

Word by Word

• कूपे: in the well
• कूपे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• स्नानम्: bathing
• स्नानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्नान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• नरः: a man
• नरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• कृत्वा: having done
• कृत्वा: Kriya (पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु) (कृदन्त: क्त्वा)
• Form: अव्यय-कृदन्त (Gerund/क्त्वान्त), 'having done'

• भक्त्या: with devotion
• भक्त्या: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भक्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• यः: who
• यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative pronoun)

• पाण्डुनन्दन: O son of Pāṇḍu
• पाण्डुनन्दन: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डु-नन्दन (प्रातिपदिक; पाण्डु + नन्दन)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

• गया-श्राद्धेन: by (the rite of) Gayā-śrāddha
• गया-श्राद्धेन: Karana (Comparison/Instrument; करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गया-श्राद्ध (प्रातिपदिक; गया + श्राद्ध)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• यत्: which
• यत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative)

• पुण्यम्: merit
• पुण्यम्: Karma/Phala (Result-object/फल)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुण्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• तत्: that
• तत्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (फल-विशेषण)

• फलम्: fruit/result
• फलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: फल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• लभते: obtains
• लभते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लभ् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• स्फुटम्: clearly
• स्फुटम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: स्फुटम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb) = 'clearly/manifestly'

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating the Māhātmya (contextual attribution within Māheśvarakhaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Guha-kūpa (Gayā-tulya tīrtha)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pāṇḍunandana

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee bathes in the stone-lined well with folded hands; subtle ancestral presences are suggested (pitṛs receiving water); a distant symbolic vignette of Gayā’s śrāddha rites appears as an equivalence motif.

Characters & Entities

• Pāṇḍunandana
• Gayā
• Śrāddha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotional bathing at a sanctified tīrtha can bestow merit equal to renowned ancestral rites, showing the power of sacred geography and bhakti.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A sacred well (kūpa) associated with the Staṃbheśvara tīrtha-context in Kaumārikākhaṇḍa, compared in merit to Gayā.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (ritual bathing) in the well, performed with devotion (bhaktyā).