Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 37

Devanagari script

मुने सुचरितेदं तु महापातकनाशनम् । सांनिध्यात्सर्वतीर्थानां सर्वतीर्थाभिधं स्मृतम्

Transliteration

mune sucaritedaṃ tu mahāpātakanāśanam | sāṃnidhyātsarvatīrthānāṃ sarvatīrthābhidhaṃ smṛtam

Translation

O Weiser Sucharita, dieses (Tīrtha) vernichtet die größten Sünden. Weil hier alle Tīrthas in unmittelbarer Nähe gegenwärtig sind, wird es als „Sarva-Tīrtha“ erinnert, das Tīrtha, das alle Tīrthas in sich birgt.

Word by Word

• मुने: O sage
• मुने: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8/सम्बोधन), एकवचन — vocative singular

• सुचरित: well-performed, virtuous
• सुचरित: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु-चरित (प्रातिपदिक; कृदन्त-आधारित)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — adjective agreeing with ‘इदम्’

• इदम्: this
• इदम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — demonstrative pronoun

• तु: indeed, but
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात/समुच्चय-भेदक — particle ‘but/indeed’

• महापातकनाशनम्: destroyer of great sins
• महापातकनाशनम्: Visheshya-predicative (Predicate/विशेष्य-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महापातक-नाशन (प्रातिपदिक; महा+पातक + नाशन)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — predicate adjective of ‘इदम्’

• सांनिध्यात्: from (its) proximity/presence
• सांनिध्यात्: Apadana (Source/Cause/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सांनिध्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5/अपादान), एकवचन — ablative ‘from/owing to presence’

• सर्वतीर्थानाम्: of all sacred fords/pilgrimage places
• सर्वतीर्थानाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व-तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक; सर्व + तीर्थ)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन — genitive plural

• सर्वतीर्थाभिधम्: called ‘all-tīrtha’
• सर्वतीर्थाभिधम्: Visheshya-predicative (Predicate/विशेष्य-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्वतीर्थ-अभिध (प्रातिपदिक; सर्वतीर्थ + अभिध)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — predicate adjective of ‘इदम्’

• स्मृतम्: is said/remembered
• स्मृतम्: Kriya (Verbal predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ (धातु) → स्मृत (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे भाव/कर्मवाच्य-प्रयोगः — ‘is said/remembered’

Speaker

Śiva (Mahādeva/Śambhu)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Sarva-tīrtha (designation) / Mānasa Tīrtha (emergent name)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Sucarita (sage)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage (Sucarita) stands at a luminous coastal/lagoon-like tīrtha in Setu-kṣetra while a divine speaker proclaims it ‘Sarva-tīrtha’; subtle streams or symbolic emblems of many rivers converge into one shining pool.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Sucarita
• Sarvatīrtha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A single holy place can embody the merit of many when sanctified by divine presence; sincere approach to such a tīrtha leads to purification from grave sins.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A ‘Sarvatīrtha’ within the Setukhaṇḍa’s sacred geography (Setu/Rāmeśvaram region), described as containing the presence of all tīrthas.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, tīrtha-sevana through approach and bathing (snāna) for destruction of sins; the explicit snāna instruction follows in subsequent verses.