The Good Fruits of Bathing in the Gomati, Worshipping Krishna, Feeding Ascetics and Shraddha

Verse 1 (skanda.7.488.1)

श्रीप्रह्लाद उवाच । धन्यास्तु नरलोकास्ते गोमत्यां तु कृतोदकाः । पूजयिष्यंति ये कृष्णं केतकीतुलसीदलैः ॥ १ ॥

śrīprahlāda uvāca | dhanyāstu naralokāste gomatyāṁ tu kṛtodakāḥ | pūjayiṣyaṁti ye kṛṣṇaṁ ketakītulasīdalaiḥ || 1 ||

Shri Prahlada said: Blessed indeed are those men of this world who, having offered water in the Gomati, shall worship Krishna with leaves of Ketaki and Tulasi.

Verse 2 (skanda.7.488.2)

न तेषां संभवोऽस्तीह घोरसंसारगह्वरे । तेषां मृत्युः पुनर्नास्ति ह्यमरत्वं हि ते गताः ॥ २ ॥

na teṣāṁ saṁbhavo'stīha ghorasaṁsāragahvare | teṣāṁ mṛtyuḥ punarnāsti hyamaratvaṁ hi te gatāḥ || 2 ||

They have no more rebirth in this terrible thicket of worldly existence; they no longer die, for they have attained immortality.

Verse 3 (skanda.7.488.3)

अन्यत्र वै यतीनां तु कोटीनां यत्फलं भवेत् । द्वारकायां तु चैकेन भोजितेन ततोऽधिकम् ॥ ३ ॥

anyatra vai yatīnāṁ tu koṭīnāṁ yatphalaṁ bhavet | dvārakāyāṁ tu caikena bhojitena tato'dhikam || 3 ||

Whatever fruit accrues elsewhere from feeding a crore of ascetics, in Dvaraka even feeding a single ascetic yields more than that.

Verse 4 (skanda.7.488.4)

अतीतं वर्त्तमानं च भविष्यद्यच्च पातकम् । निर्द्दहेन्नास्ति संदेहो द्वारका मनसा स्मृता ॥ ४ ॥

atītaṁ varttamānaṁ ca bhaviṣyadyacca pātakam | nirddahennāsti saṁdeho dvārakā manasā smṛtā || 4 ||

Whatever sin, past, present, or future — Dvaraka burns it away merely by being remembered in the mind, without doubt.

Verse 5 (skanda.7.488.5)

ज्ञात्वा कलियुगे घोरे हाहाभूतमचेतनम् । द्वारकां ये न मुञ्चन्ति कृतार्थास्ते नरोत्तमाः ॥ ५ ॥

jñātvā kaliyuge ghore hāhābhūtamacetanam | dvārakāṁ ye na muñcaṁti kṛtārthāste narottamāḥ || 5 ||

Knowing this terrible Kali age to be full of lamentation and insensate, those excellent men who do not forsake Dvaraka have fulfilled their purpose.

Verse 6 (skanda.7.488.6)

मृतानां यत्र जंतूनां श्वेतद्वीपे स्थितिः सदा ॥ ६ ॥

mṛtānāṁ yatra jaṁtūnāṁ śvetadvīpe sthitiḥ sadā || 6 ||

Where the departed creatures ever have their abode in the White Island.

Verse 7 (skanda.7.488.7)

अग्निष्वात्ता बर्हिषद आज्यपाः सोमपाश्च ये । एकविंशतिः पितृगणा द्वारकायां वसंति ते ॥ ७ ॥

agniṣvāttā barhiṣada ājyapāḥ somapāśca ye | ekaviṁśatiḥ pitṛgaṇā dvārakāyāṁ vasaṁti te || 7 ||

The Agnishvattas, the Barhishads, the Ajyapas, and the Somapas — the twenty-one classes of ancestral spirits dwell in Dvaraka.

Verse 8 (skanda.7.488.8)

पुष्करादीनि तीर्थानि गंगाद्याः सरितस्तथा । कुरुक्षेत्रादि क्षेत्राणि काश्यादीन्यूषराणि च ॥ ८ ॥

puṣkarādīni tīrthāni gaṁgādyāḥ saritastathā | kurukṣetrādi kṣetrāṇi kāśyādīnyūṣarāṇi ca || 8 ||

The sacred fords headed by Pushkara, the rivers headed by the Ganga, the fields headed by Kurukshetra, and the sacred grounds headed by Kashi,

Verse 9 (skanda.7.488.9)

गयादिपितृतीर्थानि प्रभासाद्यानि यानि च । स्थानानि यानि पुण्यानि ग्रामाश्च निवसंति वै ॥ ९ ॥

gayādipitṛtīrthāni prabhāsādyāni yāni ca | sthānāni yāni puṇyāni grāmāśca nivasaṁti vai || 9 ||

The ancestral fords headed by Gaya, Prabhasa and the rest, and whatever sacred places and villages there are — all these dwell there.

Verse 10 (skanda.7.488.10)

काश्यादिपुर्यो या नित्यं निवसंति कलौ युगे । नित्यं कृष्णस्य सदने पापिनां मुक्तिदे सदा ॥ १० ॥

kāśyādipuryo yā nityaṁ nivasaṁti kalau yuge | nityaṁ kṛṣṇasya sadane pāpināṁ muktide sadā || 10 ||

The cities headed by Kashi, which perpetually dwell in the Kali age, ever reside in Krishna's abode, forever granting liberation to sinners.

Verse 11 (skanda.7.488.11)

वैशाखशुक्लद्वादश्यां प्रबोधिन्यां शेषतः । वैशाख्यां दैत्यशार्दूल कल्पादिषु युगादिषु ॥ ११ ॥

vaiśākhaśukladvādaśyāṁ prabodhinyāṁ śeṣataḥ | vaiśākhyāṁ daityaśārdūla kalpādiṣu yugādiṣu || 11 ||

On the bright Dvadashi of Vaishakha, on Prabodhini, and in the rest of Vaishakha, O tiger among demons, on the beginnings of the kalpas and the yugas,

Verse 12 (skanda.7.488.12)

चंद्रसूर्योपरागेषु मन्वादिषु न संशयः । व्यतीपातेषु संक्रांतौ वैधृतौ दैत्यनायक ॥ १२ ॥

caṁdrasūryoparāgeṣu manvādiṣu na saṁśayaḥ | vyatīpāteṣu saṁkrāṁtau vaidhṛtau daityanāyaka || 12 ||

During lunar and solar eclipses, on the beginnings of the Manvantaras — without doubt — during Vyatipata, at the solstice, and during Vaidhriti, O lord of the demons,

Verse 13 (skanda.7.488.13)

तिलोदकं च यद्दत्त तत्स्थले पितृभक्तितः । तत्सर्वमक्षयं प्रोक्तं गोमत्यां स्नानपूर्वकम् ॥ १३ ॥

tilodakaṁ ca yaddatta tatsthale pitṛbhaktitaḥ | tatsarvamakṣayaṁ proktaṁ gomatyāṁ snānapūrvakam || 13 ||

Whatever sesame-water offering is given there out of devotion to the ancestors — all of it, when preceded by bathing in the Gomati, is declared to be imperishable.

Verse 14 (skanda.7.488.14)

येऽत्र श्राद्धं प्रकुर्वंति पिंडदानपुरःसरम् । तेषामत्राक्षया तृप्तिः पितॄणामुपजायते ॥ १४ ॥

ye'tra śrāddhaṁ prakurvaṁti piṁḍadānapuraḥsaram | teṣāmatrākṣayā tṛptiḥ pitṝṇāmupajāyate || 14 ||

Those who perform the ancestral rite here, preceded by the offering of rice-balls — for them, their ancestors' satisfaction becomes imperishable here.