Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 80

Devanagari script

महारौरवमाश्रित्य ध्रुवं वासो यमालये । ततः कालेन महता पापाः पापेन वेष्टिताः

Transliteration

mahārauravamāśritya dhruvaṃ vāso yamālaye | tataḥ kālena mahatā pāpāḥ pāpena veṣṭitāḥ

Translation

إذ يُساقون إلى مها رَورَفَة (Mahāraurava)، فإنهم يقيمون يقينًا في دار يَما. ثم بعد زمنٍ طويل، يُلفّ الخطأة بخطيئتهم نفسها، ويمضون وفق ما يجرّه عليهم الإثم.

Word by Word

• महारौरवम्: Mahāraurava (hell)
• महारौरवम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + रौरव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास; नरकनाम

• आश्रित्य: having resorted to
• आश्रित्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आ-श्रि (धातु) + क्त्वा (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (gerund/absolutive)

• ध्रुवम्: certainly
• ध्रुवम्: Sambandha (Manner/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ध्रुव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण नपुंसक-द्वितीया-एकवचन (adverbial accusative)

• वासः: dwelling, abode
• वासः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• यमालये: in Yama's abode
• यमालये: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यम (प्रातिपदिक) + आलय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (यमस्य आलयः)

• ततः: then; thereafter
• ततः: Apadāna (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रम/अपादानार्थक-अव्यय (then/from there)

• कालेन: by time
• कालेन: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन

• महता: great, long
• महता: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; विशेषण—‘कालेन’

• पापाः: sinners
• पापाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• पापेन: by sin
• पापेन: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; भाववाचक-प्रयोग (by sin)

• वेष्टिताः: wrapped/encircled
• वेष्टिताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वेष्ट् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त; विशेषण—‘पापाः’

Speaker

Deductive: Skanda (Kārttikeya) narrating within Āvantya Khaṇḍa’s Reva Khaṇḍa frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Yama’s city with iron walls; Mahāraurava depicted as a pit/region of intense torment; sinners shown literally entwined by dark serpentine bands labeled ‘pāpa’, illustrating ‘pāpāḥ pāpena veṣṭitāḥ’.

Characters & Entities

• Mahāraurava (Naraka)
• Yama
• Yamālaya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

One is bound by one’s own actions; pāpa becomes a self-made enclosure that carries the soul into Yama’s punitive realms.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not a tīrtha-verse; it is an afterlife warning within the Reva Khaṇḍa’s Revā-region narrative setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None is explicit; the verse implicitly urges purification through dharma to avoid Yama’s realms.