Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 11

Devanagari script

अंगं प्रक्षाल्य पीत्वापो यावन्निष्क्रामति द्रुतम् । तावत्पश्यति गात्रं स्वं द्वादशार्कसमप्रभम्

Transliteration

aṃgaṃ prakṣālya pītvāpo yāvanniṣkrāmati drutam | tāvatpaśyati gātraṃ svaṃ dvādaśārkasamaprabham

Translation

Nachdem er seinen Leib gewaschen und von jenem Wasser getrunken hatte, solange es noch rasch in ihm verweilte, sah er seine Glieder in einem Glanz erstrahlen, der zwölf Sonnen glich.

Word by Word

• aṅgam: body/limb
• aṅgam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• prakṣālya: having washed
• prakṣālya: Kriya (पूर्वक्रिया/पूर्वकर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-kṣāl (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), ‘having washed’

• pītvā: having drunk
• pītvā: Kriya (पूर्वक्रिया/पूर्वकर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pā (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), ‘having drunk’

• āpaḥ: water
• āpaḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āp (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (pluralia tantum), द्वितीया, बहुवचन; ‘waters’

• yāvat: as long as, until
• yāvat: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय/संबन्ध-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (correlative): यावत्…तावत् = ‘as long as…so long’

• niṣkrāmati: goes out, emerges
• niṣkrāmati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: nis-kram (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान/Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• drutam: quickly
• drutam: Kriya (Manner/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: druta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाववत् क्रियाविशेषण (adverbial accusative): ‘quickly’

• tāvat: then, so long
• tāvat: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (correlative): ‘then/so long/thereupon’ (paired with yāvat)

• paśyati: sees
• paśyati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• gātram: body
• gātram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gātra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• svam: his own
• svam: Karma (Qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sva (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम-विशेषण, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘own’ (qualifying gātram)

• dvādaśa-arka-sama-prabham: having radiance equal to twelve suns
• dvādaśa-arka-sama-prabham: Karma (Qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvādaśa (संख्या) + arka (प्रातिपदिक) + sama (प्रातिपदिक) + prabhā/prabha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास (बहुपद-तत्पुरुष/कर्मधारय-प्राय): ‘द्वादशार्कैः समा प्रभा यस्य’ इति; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying gātram)

Speaker

Sūta (contextual narration in Tīrthamāhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kund

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The cowherd washes and drinks; his body suddenly blazes with a brilliance like twelve suns, startling onlookers as the water glows around him.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True tīrtha-sevā (bathing and partaking of sacred water) is portrayed as producing immediate inner purification, symbolized by radiant divine lustre.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gomukha-tīrtha (introduced by name in the subsequent verses of this same adhyāya).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (washing/bathing) and pāna (drinking) of the tīrtha-water.