Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

पुलस्त्य उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्नृपश्रेष्ठ गजतीर्थमनुत्तमम् । यत्र पूर्वं तपस्तप्तं दिग्गजैर्भावितात्मभिः

Transliteration

pulastya uvāca | tato gacchennṛpaśreṣṭha gajatīrthamanuttamam | yatra pūrvaṃ tapastaptaṃ diggajairbhāvitātmabhiḥ

Translation

പുലസ്ത്യൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ രാജശ്രേഷ്ഠാ, തുടർന്ന് അനുത്തമമായ ഗജതീർത്ഥത്തിലേക്ക് പോകണം; അവിടെ പൂർവ്വകാലത്ത് ആത്മനിയന്ത്രണമുള്ള ദിഗ്ഗജങ്ങൾ തപസ്സു അനുഷ്ഠിച്ചിരുന്നു.

Word by Word

• पुलस्त्यः: Pulastya
• पुलस्त्यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुलस्त्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• ततः: then/thereafter
• ततः: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb) ‘thereafter/from there’

• गच्छेत्: should go
• गच्छेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• नृपश्रेष्ठ: O best of kings
• नृपश्रेष्ठ: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप (प्रातिपदिक) + श्रेष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (8th/Vocative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (नृपाणां श्रेष्ठः)

• गजतीर्थम्: the Gaja-tīrtha (elephant sacred ford)
• गजतीर्थम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज (प्रातिपदिक) + तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (गजानां तीर्थम्)

• अनुत्तमम्: unsurpassed, excellent
• अनुत्तमम्: Karma-viśeṣaṇa (Object-qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनुत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (गजतीर्थम्)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikaraṇa (Locative sense)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक-सम्बन्ध (relative adverb: where)

• पूर्वम्: formerly/previously
• पूर्वम्: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (Temporal)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पूर्वम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक-क्रियाविशेषण (adverb of time)

• तपः: austerity, penance
• तपः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्तृपदं (तप्तम् इत्यस्य)

• तप्तम्: was performed/undertaken
• तप्तम्: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: तप् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मणि-प्रयोगार्थः

• दिग्गजैः: by the directional elephants
• दिग्गजैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिक् (प्रातिपदिक) + गज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (दिशां गजाः)

• भावितात्मभिः: whose selves were purified/ennobled
• भावितात्मभिः: Karana-viśeṣaṇa (Instrument-qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भावित (भू/भाव् धातु, क्त कृदन्त) + आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन; कर्मधारयः (भावितः आत्मा येषाम्) बहुव्रीह्यर्थे विशेषणम् (दिग्गजैः)

Speaker

Pulastya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gajatīrtha

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nṛpashreṣṭha (king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Pulastya instructs the king on a forested mountain path; in the background, colossal celestial elephants at the four quarters meditate in austerity near a waterbody labeled Gajatīrtha.

Characters & Entities

• Pulastya
• Gajatīrtha
• Diggaja (directional elephants)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Holy places gain authority through the tapas and purity of great beings; visiting them aligns a pilgrim with that sanctity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gajatīrtha, praised as anuttama (unsurpassed).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The instruction is to go (gacchet) to the tīrtha; bathing and other acts are implied in the broader māhātmya.