Shloka 5

The Greatness of the Gaṅgā: Purification, Ancestor Rites, and Liberation

Devanagari script

गंगेति स्मरणादेव क्षयं याति च पातकम् । कीर्तनादतिपापानि दर्शनाद्गुरुकल्मषम्

Transliteration

gaṃgeti smaraṇādeva kṣayaṃ yāti ca pātakam | kīrtanādatipāpāni darśanādgurukalmaṣam

Translation

“ဂင်္ဂါ” ဟူသော နာမကို သတိရရုံဖြင့်ပင် အပြစ်သည် ပျောက်ကွယ်သွားသည်။ ဂုဏ်တော်ကို ကီရတန်ချီးမွမ်းလျှင် အလွန်ကြီးမားသော အပြစ်များပါ ဖယ်ရှားနိုင်ပြီး၊ ဒർശနရုံဖြင့်ပင် အလေးဆုံး မလိန်ကင်းစင်သွားသည်။

Word by Word

• gaṅgā-iti: (saying) “Gaṅgā”
• gaṅgā-iti: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: gaṅgā (प्रातिपदिक) + iti (अव्यय)
• Form: Quotative particle construction; iti = iti-avyaya (इति), gaṅgā = śabda-uddeśa (name mentioned)

• smaraṇāt: from remembrance
• smaraṇāt: Hetu (हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: smaraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napुंसकलिङ्ग, Pañcamī (Ablative/पञ्चमी) Ekavacana; hetu (cause)

• eva: alone, indeed
• eva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: Avadhāraṇa-avyaya (emphatic/एव)

• kṣayam: to destruction
• kṣayam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Dvitīyā Ekavacana; gati-kriyāyāḥ karma (object with yāti)

• yāti: goes, comes to
• yāti: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yā (धातु)
• Form: Laṭ-lakāra, Parasmaipada, Prathama-puruṣa Ekavacana; gati-verb

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Samucchaya-avyaya (conjunction)

• pātakam: sin
• pātakam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pātaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napुंसकलिङ्ग, Prathamā/Dvitīyā Ekavacana; subject in sense with yāti (sin goes to destruction)

• kīrtanāt: from chanting (her name/glories)
• kīrtanāt: Hetu (हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kīrtana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napुंसकलिङ्ग, Pañcamī Ekavacana; hetu (cause)

• ati-pāpāni: very great sins
• ati-pāpāni: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ati (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napुंसकलिङ्ग, Prathamā/Dvitīyā Bahuvacana; karmadhāraya: ati (excessive) + pāpāni; implied 'kṣayaṃ yānti'

• darśanāt: from seeing (her)
• darśanāt: Hetu (हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: darśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napुंसकलिङ्ग, Pañcamī Ekavacana; hetu (cause)

• guru-kalmaṣam: grave impurity/sin
• guru-kalmaṣam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: guru (प्रातिपदिक) + kalmaṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napुंसकलिङ्ग, Prathamā/Dvitīyā Ekavacana; karmadhāraya: guru (heavy) + kalmaṣam; implied 'kṣayaṃ yāti'

Speaker

Unspecified narrator (context not provided in the input excerpt)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Geographic Context

Type: river

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: gaṃgeti = gaṅgā + iti; smaraṇādeva = smaraṇāt + eva; kīrtanādatipāpāni = kīrtanāt + ati-pāpāni; darśanādgurukalmaṣam = darśanāt + guru-kalmaṣam.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā

FAQs

What does this verse teach about Gaṅgā as a tīrtha?

It presents Gaṅgā as a supremely purifying sacred presence: remembrance, praise, and direct sight are each described as spiritually efficacious means for destroying sin.

How does this verse emphasize the path of Bhakti?

It highlights devotional practices—smaraṇa (remembrance) and kīrtana (praise/recitation)—as powerful, accessible acts that bring purification even before physical pilgrimage.

What ethical lesson is implied by the gradation of remembrance, praise, and sight?

The verse implies that inner orientation matters: sincere mental and verbal devotion can begin moral-spiritual cleansing, encouraging repentance and a shift toward purity of conduct.