Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 13

Devanagari script

पतन्तं रक्षयेद्देवि महापातकिनं यदि । महाघोरे गता वापि दुष्टकर्मपितामहाः

Transliteration

patantaṃ rakṣayeddevi mahāpātakinaṃ yadi | mahāghore gatā vāpi duṣṭakarmapitāmahāḥ

Translation

O Göttin, wenn (ein Sohn) den Stürzenden schützen kann, selbst einen großen Sünder, dann können sogar Großväter mit bösen Taten, auch wenn sie in den schrecklichsten Zustand gelangt sind, gerettet werden.

Word by Word

• patantam: (one) falling
• patantam: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √pat (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ/Present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म-विशेषण

• rakṣayet: should protect
• rakṣayet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √rakṣ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative/विधिलिङ्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• devi: O goddess/lady
• devi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• mahā-pātakinam: a great sinner
• mahā-pātakinam: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + pātakin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म

• yadi: if
• yadi: Modifier (Condition/शर्त)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्त-अव्यय (conditional particle)

• mahā-ghore: in great terror / in a dreadful (state/place)
• mahā-ghore: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + ghora (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरण (locative)

• gatāḥ: gone, having gone
• gatāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √gam (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त/PPP: gata), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; कर्तृ-विशेषण

• vā: or / even
• vā: Modifier (Alternative/विकल्प)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प-अव्यय (disjunctive particle: ‘or/even’)

• api: even
• api: Modifier (Emphasis/सम्भावना)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि (particle: ‘also/even’)

• duṣṭa-karma-pitāmahāḥ: grandfathers of evil deeds (wicked ancestors)
• duṣṭa-karma-pitāmahāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: duṣṭa (प्रातिपदिक) + karman (प्रातिपदिक) + pitāmaha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; कर्ता

Speaker

Atri (deduced from flow; still within his lament about son’s salvific power)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A dramatic moral tableau: a ‘falling’ sinner at the edge of a chasm or into darkness; a saving force (son as symbolic rescuer) reaches out; behind, shadowy ancestors in torment are also lifted.

Characters & Entities

• Atri
• Pitāmahāḥ (ancestors)
• Mahāpātaka (great sin)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The verse underscores hope for redemption: righteous support (traditionally via progeny) is portrayed as powerful enough to aid even heavily burdened souls.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it belongs to the Revā Khaṇḍa milieu associated with the sanctity of the Revā/Narmadā region.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct rite is stated; the verse speaks conceptually of protection/salvation rather than prescribing śrāddha, dāna, or snāna.