Skanda Purana — Vishnu Khanda, Shloka 180
कार्तिक्यां च विशेषेण स्नातव्यं विजितेन्द्रियैः । कार्तिके मासि विप्रर्षे सर्वे देवाः सवासवाः । स्नातुमायान्त्ययोध्यायां गोप्रतारे विशेषतः
kārtikyāṃ ca viśeṣeṇa snātavyaṃ vijitendriyaiḥ | kārtike māsi viprarṣe sarve devāḥ savāsavāḥ | snātumāyāntyayodhyāyāṃ gopratāre viśeṣataḥ
আৰু বিশেষকৈ কাৰ্ত্তিকাত, ইন্দ্ৰিয়জয়ীসকলে স্নান কৰিব লাগে। হে বিপ্ৰশ্ৰেষ্ঠ! কাৰ্ত্তিক মাহত সকলো দেৱতা—ইন্দ্ৰসহ—অযোধ্যালৈ স্নান কৰিবলৈ আহে, বিশেষকৈ গোপ্ৰতাৰত।
Brahmā (deduced: Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa tīrtha-māhātmya instruction to a brāhmaṇa interlocutor)
Tirtha: Gopratāra
Type: ghat
Listener: viprārṣa / best of brāhmaṇas (addressed)
Scene: Kārtika dawn at Gopratāra: a celestial procession of devas led by Indra descends to the Sarayū ghāṭ; disciplined pilgrims bathe alongside, lamps flicker, and the river shines with divine presence.
FAQs
Kārtika is a uniquely potent sacred period; sense-control plus tīrtha-snānā yields exceptional merit.
Gopratāra Tīrtha in Ayodhyā, highlighted as a favored bathing place even for the devas.
Bathing during Kārtika, ideally by those practicing indriya-jaya (sense-restraint), specifically at Gopratāra.