Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

यस्मिन् कालेऽथ सम्बन्धे उत्पन्नं तीर्थमुत्तमम् । सर्वपापहरं पुण्यं तीर्थं जातं कथं प्रभो

Transliteration

yasmin kāle'tha sambandhe utpannaṃ tīrthamuttamam | sarvapāpaharaṃ puṇyaṃ tīrthaṃ jātaṃ kathaṃ prabho

Translation

„Zu welcher Zeit und unter welchem Zusammenhang entstand diese höchste Tīrtha, diese heilige Furt, die alle Sünden fortnimmt? Wie kam dieser verdienstvolle Ort zustande, o Ehrwürdiger?“

Word by Word

• yasmin: in which
• yasmin: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• kāle: at what time
• kāle: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• atha: and; then
• atha: Sambandha (Discourse/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle), अनुक्रम/प्रश्नार्थक (then/and/now)

• sambandhe: in what connection/circumstance
• sambandhe: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sambandha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• utpannam: arisen; produced
• utpannam: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ut-pad (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (Past Passive Participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying tīrtham)

• tīrtham: holy ford; pilgrimage place
• tīrtham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• uttamam: excellent
• uttamam: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying tīrtham)

• sarva-pāpa-haram: removing all sins
• sarva-pāpa-haram: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + hara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying tīrtham); (सर्वाणि पापानि हरति)

• puṇyam: holy; meritorious
• puṇyam: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: puṇya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying tīrtham)

• tīrtham: the tīrtha
• tīrtham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• jātam: born; come into being
• jātam: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jan (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (Past Passive Participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying tīrtham)

• katham: how
• katham: Sambandha (Question/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नाव्यय (interrogative adverb)

• prabho: O lord
• prabho: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन; पुंलिङ्ग

Speaker

Yudhiṣṭhira (continuing inquiry)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kapilā Tīrtha / Narmadeśvara-associated tīrtha (as queried)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mārkaṇḍeya (addressed as prabho)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A questioning king points toward a river-map; the sage prepares to narrate, with a faint cosmic clock/seasonal wheel motif indicating ‘kāla’, and a chain-link motif indicating ‘sambandha’ (causal connection) behind the emerging tīrtha.

Characters & Entities

• Kapilā-tīrtha (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred places are understood through their origin narratives (utpatti-kathā), which reveal why a tīrtha carries purifying power in dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The question concerns the supreme tīrtha being discussed in this chapter—Kapilā-tīrtha within the Revā Khaṇḍa setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse asks for the tīrtha’s origin and the reason for its sin-destroying merit.