Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 30

Devanagari script

मन्वन्तरसहस्राणि काशीवासेन यत्फलम् । तत्फलं द्वारकायां च वसतः पंचभिर्द्दिनैः

Transliteration

manvantarasahasrāṇi kāśīvāsena yatphalam | tatphalaṃ dvārakāyāṃ ca vasataḥ paṃcabhirddinaiḥ

Translation

Welcher geistige Lohn durch das Wohnen in Kāśī über Tausende von Manvantaras erlangt wird—denselben Lohn erwirbt, wer in Dvārakā nur fünf Tage verweilt.

Word by Word

• manvantarasahasrāṇi: For thousands of Manvantaras (epochs)
• manvantarasahasrāṇi: Kala (Time)
• Type: Noun
• Root: manvantarasahasra (manvantara + sahasra)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural (Accusative of Time)

• kāśīvāsena: By residing in Kashi
• kāśīvāsena: Hetu (Cause/Means)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśīvāsa (kāśī + vāsa)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular (Saptami Tatpurusha)

• yatphalam: Whatever fruit/merit
• yatphalam: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yatphala (yad + phala)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• tatphalaṃ: That fruit/merit
• tatphalaṃ: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tatphala (tad + phala)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• dvārakāyāṃ: In Dwaraka
• dvārakāyāṃ: Adhikaraṇa (Locus)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvārakā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• ca: And
• ca: Connector
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction

• vasataḥ: Of one residing
• vasataḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier to implied person)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vas (धातु) + śatṛ (प्रत्यय)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular (Present Participle)

• pañcabhiḥ: Five
• pañcabhiḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pañcan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Plural, Instrumental

• dinaiḥ: Days
• dinaiḥ: Kala (Time duration)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dina (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating to the sages (deduced from Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa māhātmya-style narration context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dvārakā (benchmark: Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic balance: on one side Kāśī’s ghāṭas and Viśvanātha spire stretching across cosmic time; on the other, Dvārakā’s sea-temple where five sunrise-to-sunset cycles glow like aeons, tipping the scale toward Dvārakā’s condensed merit.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• Dwārakā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The verse teaches the extraordinary, condensed merit (puṇya-phala) of Dwārakā: even a brief, sincere stay there can equal vast durations of merit earned elsewhere, highlighting the power of sacred place (sthāna) in Purāṇic dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dwārakā is glorified as a supremely meritorious tīrtha, explicitly compared with Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), a benchmark pilgrimage site.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite (snāna, dāna, japa) is stated; the prescription is residence itself—dwelling in Dwārakā for five days as a potent means of accruing merit.