Shloka 68

The Greatness of Gayā

Gayā-Māhātmya

Devanagari script

यूपं प्रदक्षिणीकृत्य वाजपेयफलं लभेत् । ततो गच्छेत्तु सुभगे धेनुकं लोकविश्रुतम् ॥ ६८ ॥

Transliteration

yūpaṃ pradakṣiṇīkṛtya vājapeyaphalaṃ labhet | tato gacchettu subhage dhenukaṃ lokaviśrutam || 68 ||

Translation

ယုပါ (ယဇ္ဉတိုင်) ကို လှည့်ပတ်ပူဇော် (ပရဒက္ခိဏ) ပြုလျှင် ဝာဇပေယ ယဇ္ဉ၏ အကျိုးကို ရရှိမည်။ ထို့နောက် ကံကောင်းသူရေ၊ လောကတွင် နာမည်ကြီးသော သီရ္ထ Dhenuka သို့ သွားရမည်။

Word by Word

• yūpam: the sacrificial post
• yūpam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (पुंलिङ्ग), Dvitīyā (2nd/द्वितीया), Ekavacana (एकवचन)

• pradakṣiṇī-kṛtya: having circumambulated
• pradakṣiṇī-kṛtya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pradakṣiṇī (प्रातिपदिक) + kṛ (कृ धातु)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (क्त्वान्त), ‘having circumambulated’; denominative sense ‘to make pradakṣiṇā’

• vājapeya-phalam: fruit of the Vājapeya (sacrifice)
• vājapeya-phalam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vājapeya (प्रातिपदिक) + phala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) ‘vājapeyasya phalam’; Napuṃsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Dvitīyā (2nd/द्वितीया), Ekavacana (एकवचन)

• labhet: should obtain
• labhet: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: labh (लभ् धातु)
• Form: Vidhi-liṅ (विधिलिङ्/Optative), Prathama-puruṣa (3rd/प्रथम), Ekavacana (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; sequential adverb (ततः)

• gacchet: should go
• gacchet: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (गम् धातु)
• Form: Vidhi-liṅ (विधिलिङ्/Optative), Prathama-puruṣa (3rd/प्रथम), Ekavacana (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• tu: then/indeed
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; particle (विरोध/अन्वय)

• subhage: to/at Subhaga (place)
• subhage: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: subhaga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Saptamī (7th/सप्तमी), Ekavacana (एकवचन); used as place-name in locative

• dhenukam: Dhenuka (place)
• dhenukam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhenuka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (पुंलिङ्ग), Dvitīyā (2nd/द्वितीया), Ekavacana (एकवचन)

• loka-viśrutam: world-famous
• loka-viśrutam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक) + viśruta (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त-प्राय)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) ‘loke viśrutam’; Napuṃsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Dvitīyā (2nd/द्वितीया), Ekavacana (एकवचन); qualifies dhenukam

Speaker

Sanatkumara (in dialogue to Narada, instructing the tīrtha-route)

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhakti

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Dhenuka
• Yupa
• Vajapeya

FAQs

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

It teaches that simple tīrtha-oriented acts—like pradakṣiṇā around a sacred yūpa—can yield merit equivalent to major Vedic sacrifices, emphasizing accessible paths to puṇya within pilgrimage practice.

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

While framed as tīrtha-mahātmya, it supports bhakti by valuing reverential bodily worship (pradakṣiṇā) and faithful movement through sacred geography, cultivating remembrance and surrender rather than mere ritual complexity.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

Ritual procedure is implied: pradakṣiṇā as an act of honor in yājñika practice, and the concept of yajña-phala (Vājapeya merit) being transferable/attainable through prescribed sacred acts.