Skanda Purana — Vishnu Khanda, Shloka 181

Devanagari script

गोप्रतारसमं तीर्थं न भूतं न भविष्यति । यत्र प्रयागराजोऽपि स्नातुमायाति कार्तिके

Transliteration

gopratārasamaṃ tīrthaṃ na bhūtaṃ na bhaviṣyati | yatra prayāgarājo'pi snātumāyāti kārtike

Translation

Es hat keinen heiligen Furtort gegeben und wird keinen geben, der Gopratāra gleicht—dorthin kommt im Monat Kārtika selbst Prayāga, der König der Tīrthas, zum Bad.

Word by Word

• गोप्रतारसमम्: equal to Gopratāra
• गोप्रतारसमम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गोप्रतार-सम (प्रातिपदिक; गोप्रतार + सम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; उपमान-सम्बन्धे तत्पुरुषः; विशेषणम् (तीर्थम्)

• तीर्थम्: pilgrimage place, sacred ford
• तीर्थम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• न: not
• न: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध (negation particle)

• भूतम्: has existed
• भूतम्: Kriya (Predicative/विधेय)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु) + क्त (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकालिक कृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘has been/existed’ (past participle used predicatively)

• न: nor
• न: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध

• भविष्यति: will be
• भविष्यति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (Simple Future), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; सम्बन्धबोधक-स्थानवाचक (relative adverb: where)

• प्रयागराजः: Prayāgarāja (king of Prayāga; Prayāga itself personified)
• प्रयागराजः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रयाग-राज (प्रातिपदिक; प्रयाग + राज)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः ‘प्रयागस्य राजा’

• अपि: even
• अपि: Sambandha/Particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात

• स्नातुम्: to bathe
• स्नातुम्: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्ना (धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (infinitive)

• आयाति: comes
• आयाति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-या (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• कार्तिके: in Kārtika
• कार्तिके: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कार्तिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; कालवाचक-अधिकरणम्

Speaker

Brahmā (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gopratāra

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Personified Prayāga, crowned as ‘tīrtharāja’, approaches Ayodhyā’s Gopratāra-ghāṭ in Kārtika; the Sarayū glitters, pilgrims line the steps with lamps and waterpots.

Characters & Entities

• Gopratāra
• Prayāga (Prayāgarāja)
• Kārtika

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Purāṇas rank certain sites as uniquely supreme; reverence and pilgrimage to such tīrthas is presented as spiritually transformative.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gopratāra Tīrtha in Ayodhyā, declared unequalled.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Bathing (snāna) in Kārtika—so powerful that even Prayāga is poetically said to come there to bathe.