Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 57

Devanagari script

किं दानैः किं तपोभिश्च किं तीर्थपरिमज्जनैः । धरातीर्थे यदि स्नातं पुनर्भव मलापहे

Transliteration

kiṃ dānaiḥ kiṃ tapobhiśca kiṃ tīrthaparimajjanaiḥ | dharātīrthe yadi snātaṃ punarbhava malāpahe

Translation

À quoi bon les dons, à quoi bon les austérités, à quoi bon même les immersions répétées en d’autres gués sacrés, si l’on s’est baigné à Dharā-tīrtha, qui efface l’impureté de la renaissance ?

Word by Word

• किम्: what (use)
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; interrogative pronoun used idiomatically ‘what use?’

• दानैः: with gifts, by donations
• दानैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; Instrumental plural

• किम्: what (use)
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; interrogative (repeated)

• तपोभिः: with austerities
• तपोभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; Instrumental plural

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चय-निपात (conjunction)

• किम्: what (use)
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; interrogative (repeated)

• तीर्थपरिमज्जनैः: with immersions/bathings in pilgrim waters
• तीर्थपरिमज्जनैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक) + परि√मज्ज् (धातु) → परिमज्जन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (तीर्थस्य परिमज्जनम्); Instrumental plural

• धरातीर्थे: at the sacred ford of the Earth (i.e., on earth)
• धरातीर्थे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धरा (प्रातिपदिक) + तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (अधिकरण), एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (धरायाः तीर्थम्); Locative singular

• यदि: if
• यदि: Sambandha (Condition/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, शर्त-निपात (conditional particle: if)

• स्नातम्: (has been) bathed
• स्नातम्: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्नात (√स्ना धातु, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; here used predicatively ‘(it is) bathed/one has bathed’ (impersonal/elliptic)

• पुनर्भव: rebirth
• पुनर्भव: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुनर्भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (पुनः भवः = rebirth); Nominative singular

• मलापहे: O remover of impurity
• मलापहे: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मल (प्रातिपदिक) + अपह (√अपहृ धातु, ण्वुल्/घञ्-प्रत्ययादि)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी/सम्बोधन?; एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (मलस्य अपहः/अपहर्ता = remover of impurity). पदरूप ‘मलापहे’ सम्भवतः सम्बोधन-एकवचन (हे मलापह) / अथवा सप्तमी-एकवचन; contextually vocative to Śiva/Kāśī

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dharā-tīrtha

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Pilgrims descend stone steps to a calm ford named Dharā-tīrtha; the water gleams as if washing away a dark film labeled ‘punarbhava-mala’; offerings and lamps frame the scene.

Characters & Entities

• Dharā-tīrtha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A supremely potent tīrtha can confer merits comparable to many other practices, when approached with faith and purity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dharā-tīrtha, praised as ‘punarbhava-malāpa’—a remover of the stain of rebirth.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (sacred bathing) at Dharā-tīrtha is prescribed as especially meritorious.