Shloka 54

Account of Various Sacred Tīrthas

Pilgrimage Merits and Prayāga Supremacy

Devanagari script

तत्र कालंजरं गत्वा गोसहस्रफलं लभेत् । आत्मानं साधयेत्तत्र गिरौ कालंजरे नृप

Transliteration

tatra kālaṃjaraṃ gatvā gosahasraphalaṃ labhet | ātmānaṃ sādhayettatra girau kālaṃjare nṛpa

Translation

وہاں کالنجر جا کر ہزار گایوں کے دان کے برابر پُنّیہ ملتا ہے۔ اے نَرپ (بادشاہ)، اسی کالنجر پہاڑ پر وہاں اپنے نفس کی تکمیل کے لیے سادھنا و تپسیا کرنی چاہیے۔

Word by Word

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (अधिकरण; देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (locative adverb) — ‘there’

• कालंजरम्: Kālañjara
• कालंजरम्: Karma (कर्म; गत्यर्थे गन्तव्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कालंजर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन — ‘Kālañjara (mountain/place)’

• गत्वा: having gone
• गत्वा: Kriya-viseshana (क्रियाविशेषण; पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund) — ‘having gone’

• गो-सहस्र-फलम्: the fruit of a thousand cows
• गो-सहस्र-फलम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गो (प्रातिपदिक) + सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक) + फल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन — ‘merit equal to a thousand cows’

• लभेत्: may obtain
• लभेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लभ् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद — ‘may obtain’

• आत्मानम्: oneself
• आत्मानम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन — ‘oneself/the self’

• साधयेत्: should accomplish/attain
• साधयेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: साध् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद — ‘should accomplish/propitiate’

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (अधिकरण; देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण — ‘there’

• गिरौ: on the mountain
• गिरौ: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन — ‘on the mountain’

• कालंजरे: in Kālañjara
• कालंजरे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कालंजर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन — ‘on/in Kālañjara’

• नृप: O king
• नृप: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन — vocative address

Speaker

Unspecified (narrator addressing a king, 'nṛpa')

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: vira

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Geographic Context

Type: mountain

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: कालंजरं = कालंजरम्; गोसहस्रफलं = गो-सहस्र-फलम्; साधयेत्तत्र = साधयेत् तत्र; कालंजरे (पाठे) = कालंजर-े (सप्तमी एकवचन)।

Characters & Entities

• Kālañjara

FAQs

What does this verse say about Kālañjara as a sacred place?

It presents Kālañjara as a tīrtha where pilgrimage yields great religious merit and where one should practice spiritual discipline for inner attainment.

What is meant by “the fruit of a thousand cows” (gosahasraphala)?

It is a conventional Purāṇic measure of puṇya (merit), equating the benefit of visiting Kālañjara with the merit traditionally attributed to donating a thousand cows.

What ethical or spiritual lesson is emphasized here?

The verse links outer pilgrimage with inner practice: sacred travel is praised, but it is paired with sādhana/tapas—self-cultivation aimed at self-perfection.