Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 71

Devanagari script

यत्र वृंदा परित्यज्य देहं ब्रह्मपथं गता । आसीद्वृंदावनं तत्र गोवर्द्धनसमीपतः

Transliteration

yatra vṛṃdā parityajya dehaṃ brahmapathaṃ gatā | āsīdvṛṃdāvanaṃ tatra govarddhanasamīpataḥ

Translation

Dort, wo Vṛndā den Leib verließ und den Pfad zu Brahman betrat—dort, nahe Govardhana, entstand Vṛndāvana.

Word by Word

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb: “where”)

• वृंदा: Vṛndā
• वृंदा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृन्दा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• परित्यज्य: having abandoned
• परित्यज्य: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial to main action/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि-त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive); “having abandoned”

• देहम्: body
• देहम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन

• ब्रह्मपथम्: path to Brahman
• ब्रह्मपथम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + पथ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (ब्रह्मणः पथः)

• गता: went/attained
• गता: Karta (Subject-complement/कर्ता-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle used predicatively); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; “gone/attained”

• आसीत्: was
• आसीत्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लङ्-लकार (Imperfect/Past); प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• वृंदावनम्: Vṛndāvana (forest of Vṛndā)
• वृंदावनम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृन्दा (प्रातिपदिक) + वन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (वृन्दायाः वनम्)

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक-अव्यय (there)

• गोवर्द्धनसमीपतः: near Govardhana
• गोवर्द्धनसमीपतः: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: गोवर्द्धन (प्रातिपदिक) + समीप (प्रातिपदिक) + तस् (तसिल्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: तसिलन्त-अव्यय (ablatival adverb: “from/near”); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (गोवर्द्धनस्य समीपः) + तसिल् (तः)

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vṛndāvana (near Govardhana)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A serene Vraja landscape: Govardhana hill in the background; a sacred grove (vana) with tulasī-like foliage; Vṛndā’s subtle departure—her body relinquished, a luminous path rising upward (brahma-patha). Pilgrims circumambulate in devotion.

Characters & Entities

• Vṛndā
• Vṛndāvana
• Govardhana
• Brahmapatha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A holy place is sanctified by realized beings; liberation (brahmapatha) and sacred geography are interwoven in Purāṇic dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vṛndāvana near Govardhana is explicitly identified as the sanctified स्थल (sacred locale).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is prescribed in this verse; it provides the etiological (origin) glory of the sacred site.