Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 69

The Greatness of the Gaṅgā

Gaṅgāmāhātmya

Devanagari script

गङ्गाजलकणेनापि यः सिक्तो मनुजोत्तमः । सर्वपापविनिर्मुक्तः प्रयाति परमं पदम् ॥ ६९ ॥

Transliteration

gaṅgājalakaṇenāpi yaḥ sikto manujottamaḥ | sarvapāpavinirmuktaḥ prayāti paramaṃ padam || 69 ||

Translation

ဂင်္ဂါရေတစ်စက်တည်းဖြင့်ပင် ပက်ဖျန်းခံရသော လူတို့အနက် အကောင်းဆုံးသူသည် အပြစ်အားလုံးမှ လွတ်မြောက်ကာ အမြင့်ဆုံးသော အခြေအနေ (ပရမပဒ) သို့ ရောက်၏။

Word by Word

• गङ्गा-जल-कणेन: by a drop of Gaṅgā water
• गङ्गा-जल-कणेन: Karana (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गङ्गा (प्रातिपदिक) + जल (प्रातिपदिक) + कण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन (Singular); पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine) — ‘with/by a drop of Gaṅgā water’

• अपि: even
• अपि: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Avyaya) — अपि-कार (even/also)

• यः: who
• यः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन (Singular); पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine) — relative pronoun

• सिक्तः: is sprinkled / wetted
• सिक्तः: Kriya (क्रिया/Predicative participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सिच् (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (Past Passive Participle/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन — ‘sprinkled/wetted’

• मनुज-उत्तमः: the best of men
• मनुज-उत्तमः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनुज (प्रातिपदिक) + उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन (Singular); पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine) — ‘best among men’

• सर्व-पाप-विनिर्मुक्तः: freed from all sins
• सर्व-पाप-विनिर्मुक्तः: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक) + पाप (प्रातिपदिक) + विनिर्मुक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन (Singular); पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine) — ‘freed from all sins’

• प्रयाति: goes / attains
• प्रयाति: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र√या (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present/लट्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular); परस्मैपद (Parasmaipada)

• परमम्: supreme
• परमम्: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular); नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter) — qualifying पदम्

• पदम्: abode / state
• पदम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular); नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter)

Speaker

Narada (teaching within the Narada–Sanatkumara dialogue)

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhakti

Secondary Rasa: karuna

Characters & Entities

• Ganga

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in Narada Purana?

It teaches the extraordinary purifying power (pāpa-haraṇa) of Gaṅgā as a tīrtha: even minimal contact—just a drop—symbolizes divine grace that removes sin and leads one toward the supreme goal.

How does this verse explain the path of devotion (Bhakti)?

By emphasizing sacred contact and grace rather than personal merit alone, the verse aligns with bhakti logic: reverent acceptance of Gaṅgā (as a divine tīrtha) becomes a devotional act that supports inner purification and readiness for the highest attainment.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

It most directly reflects kalpa-style ritual practice: using tīrtha-water for śuddhi (purificatory sprinkling) in worship and rites, underscoring the practical role of sacred water within dharmic observance.