Shloka 18
Kāśī-māhātmya: Avimukta Gaṅgā and the Pañcanada Tīrtha
स्नानमात्रान्नरो याति भित्वा ब्रह्मांडमंडपम् । प्रयागे माघमासे तु सम्यक् स्नानस्य यत्फलम् ॥ १८ ॥
snānamātrānnaro yāti bhitvā brahmāṃḍamaṃḍapam | prayāge māghamāse tu samyak snānasya yatphalam || 18 ||
Durch den bloßen Akt des Badens überschreitet der Mensch den Pavillon des kosmischen Eies (die gebundene Welt). So ist die Frucht eines rechten Bades in Prayāga im Monat Māgha.
Suta (narrating the Tirtha-Mahatmya section; teaching conveyed as Narada Purana discourse)
Vrata: Māgha-snāna (seasonal observance)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It declares the extraordinary liberating merit (phala) of a correctly performed Māgha-month bath at Prayāga—so powerful that it is described as transcending the cosmic enclosure (brahmāṇḍa), i.e., the bondage of worldly existence.
In the Narada Purana’s Tirtha-Māhātmya mode, devotion is expressed through reverent, rule-based sacred practice (snāna at a Vishnu-favored tirtha). The act becomes bhakti in ritual form—faithfully approaching a holy place and performing the prescribed observance.
Kalpa (ritual procedure) and Jyotiṣa (sacred timing) are implied: the verse stresses doing the bath “properly” (samyak) and specifically in the Māgha month, indicating correct observance, seasonality, and auspicious calendrical timing.