Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 5

Devanagari script

पुण्डरीकपुरे तेन दशवत्सरवासजम् । पुण्यं भवति विप्रेंद्रा महापातकनाश नम्

Transliteration

puṇḍarīkapure tena daśavatsaravāsajam | puṇyaṃ bhavati vipreṃdrā mahāpātakanāśa nam

Translation

O Beste der Brāhmaṇas, durch jene Übung in Puṇḍarīkapura erlangt man Verdienst wie von zehnjährigem Aufenthalt, und sie vernichtet die großen Sünden (mahāpātaka).

Word by Word

• पुण्डरीकपुरे: in Puṇḍarīka-pura
• पुण्डरीकपुरे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुण्डरीकपुर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (अधिकरण), एकवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (पुण्डरीकस्य पुरम्)

• तेन: by that (means)
• तेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (करण), एकवचन

• दशवत्सरवासजम्: produced by a ten-year residence
• दशवत्सरवासजम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + वत्सर (प्रातिपदिक) + वास (प्रातिपदिक) + ज (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √जन् (धातु) ‘to be born/produced’)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (दशवत्सरस्य वासः; तस्मात् जातम्)

• पुण्यम्: merit
• पुण्यम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुण्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• भवति: arises/comes to be
• भवति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √भू (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• विप्रेन्द्राः: O best of Brahmins
• विप्रेन्द्राः: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र (प्रातिपदिक) + इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-प्रथमा (Vocative), बहुवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (विप्राणाम् इन्द्राः)

• महापातकनाशनम्: destroyer of great sins
• महापातकनाशनम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + पातक (प्रातिपदिक) + नाशन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (महापातकस्य नाशनम्)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Setukhaṇḍa Māhātmya style narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Puṇḍarīkapura

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: viprendra (addressed brāhmaṇa interlocutor)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim-brāhmaṇa in a sacred town performs a vrata—bathing, offering water, and circumambulating a shrine—while sages proclaim that the act equals ten years’ residence and destroys great sins.

Characters & Entities

• Puṇḍarīkapura
• Mahāpātaka

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Holy places can compress spiritual effort—devotional observance at a tīrtha yields vast merit and purifies grave sins.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Puṇḍarīkapura is praised as a place where observance grants extraordinary merit.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse implies a specific observance/act (“tena”) whose fruit equals ten years’ residence and destroys mahāpātakas.