Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

बाल्ये वयसि यत्पापं वार्द्धके यौवनेऽपि वा । वसिष्ठदर्शनात्सद्यो नराणां याति संक्षयम्

Transliteration

bālye vayasi yatpāpaṃ vārddhake yauvane'pi vā | vasiṣṭhadarśanātsadyo narāṇāṃ yāti saṃkṣayam

Translation

أيُّ ذنبٍ اكتسبه الإنسان—في الطفولة أو الشباب أو الشيخوخة—فإنه بمجرد نيل دارشنَة (الرؤية المباركة) للريشي فاسيشثا يضمحلّ سريعًا عن البشر.

Word by Word

• बाल्ये: in childhood
• बाल्ये: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाल्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• वयसि: at an age
• वयसि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वयस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• यत्: whatever/that which
• यत्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सम्बन्धक/यद्-प्रयोगः (relative)

• पापम्: sin
• पापम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• वार्द्धके: in old age
• वार्द्धके: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वार्द्धक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• यौवने: in youth
• यौवने: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यौवन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• अपि: also/even
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (also/even)

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विकल्पार्थक निपात (or)

• वसिष्ठदर्शनात्: from (the) seeing of Vasiṣṭha
• वसिष्ठदर्शनात्: Apadana (Source/Cause/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसिष्ठ + दर्शन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘वसिष्ठस्य दर्शनम्’); अपादान-हेतुवाचक

• सद्यः: immediately
• सद्यः: Kala (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सद्यः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (immediately)

• नराणाम्: of men
• नराणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन

• याति: goes/comes to
• याति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• संक्षयम्: destruction/cessation
• संक्षयम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संक्षय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

Speaker

Sūta (deduced, Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa narrative style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vasiṣṭha-darśana (Vasiṣṭhāśrama, Arbuda)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: King (nṛpa)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim approaches Vasiṣṭha seated in meditation; as the pilgrim beholds him, dark wisps symbolizing sins dissolve into light around the hermitage.

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Darśana of a realized sage is itself a purifying act that burns away accumulated wrongdoing across all life-stages.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vasiṣṭha’s presence at his āśrama, whose darśana is praised as immediately purifying.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No complex rite is required here—simply obtaining Vasiṣṭha’s darśana is presented as spiritually efficacious.