Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 13

Devanagari script

कूपे स्नानं नरः कृत्वा भक्त्या यः पांडुनंदन । गयाश्राद्धेन यत्पुण्यं तत्फलं लभते स्फुटम्

Transliteration

kūpe snānaṃ naraḥ kṛtvā bhaktyā yaḥ pāṃḍunaṃdana | gayāśrāddhena yatpuṇyaṃ tatphalaṃ labhate sphuṭam

Translation

ഹേ പാണ്ഡുനന്ദനാ! ഭക്തിയോടെ ആ കിണറിൽ സ്നാനം ചെയ്യുന്ന മനുഷ്യൻ, ഗയാശ്രാദ്ധം ചെയ്താൽ ലഭിക്കുന്ന പുണ്യഫലം തന്നെയെ വ്യക്തമായി പ്രാപിക്കുന്നു।

Word by Word

• कूपे: in the well
• कूपे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• स्नानम्: bathing
• स्नानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्नान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• नरः: a man
• नरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• कृत्वा: having done
• कृत्वा: Kriya (पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु) (कृदन्त: क्त्वा)
• Form: अव्यय-कृदन्त (Gerund/क्त्वान्त), 'having done'

• भक्त्या: with devotion
• भक्त्या: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भक्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• यः: who
• यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative pronoun)

• पाण्डुनन्दन: O son of Pāṇḍu
• पाण्डुनन्दन: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डु-नन्दन (प्रातिपदिक; पाण्डु + नन्दन)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

• गया-श्राद्धेन: by (the rite of) Gayā-śrāddha
• गया-श्राद्धेन: Karana (Comparison/Instrument; करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गया-श्राद्ध (प्रातिपदिक; गया + श्राद्ध)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• यत्: which
• यत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative)

• पुण्यम्: merit
• पुण्यम्: Karma/Phala (Result-object/फल)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुण्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• तत्: that
• तत्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (फल-विशेषण)

• फलम्: fruit/result
• फलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: फल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• लभते: obtains
• लभते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लभ् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• स्फुटम्: clearly
• स्फुटम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: स्फुटम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb) = 'clearly/manifestly'

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating the Māhātmya (contextual attribution within Māheśvarakhaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Guha-kūpa (Gayā-tulya tīrtha)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pāṇḍunandana

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee bathes in the stone-lined well with folded hands; subtle ancestral presences are suggested (pitṛs receiving water); a distant symbolic vignette of Gayā’s śrāddha rites appears as an equivalence motif.

Characters & Entities

• Pāṇḍunandana
• Gayā
• Śrāddha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotional bathing at a sanctified tīrtha can bestow merit equal to renowned ancestral rites, showing the power of sacred geography and bhakti.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A sacred well (kūpa) associated with the Staṃbheśvara tīrtha-context in Kaumārikākhaṇḍa, compared in merit to Gayā.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (ritual bathing) in the well, performed with devotion (bhaktyā).