Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 12

Devanagari script

ततो गच्छेत विप्रेन्द्रास्तीर्थं महिषसंज्ञकम् । यस्य दर्शनमात्रेण मुच्यते सर्वपातकैः

Transliteration

tato gaccheta viprendrāstīrthaṃ mahiṣasaṃjñakam | yasya darśanamātreṇa mucyate sarvapātakaiḥ

Translation

Dann, o Bester unter den Brāhmaṇas, soll man zur Tīrtha namens Mahiṣa gehen. Schon durch bloßes Darśana (heiliges Schauen) wird man von allen Sünden und Stürzen befreit.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Adhikaraṇa (Temporal/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: ‘thereupon/then’)

• gacchet: should go
• gacchet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √gam (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• vipra-indrāḥ: O best of Brahmins (lit. lords among Brahmins)
• vipra-indrāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra + indra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; समासः—viprendra (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘विप्राणाम् इन्द्राः’)

• tīrtham: to the sacred ford/place
• tīrtham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• mahiṣa-saṃjñakam: named ‘Mahiṣa’
• mahiṣa-saṃjñakam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahiṣa + saṃjñaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः—mahiṣa-saṃjñaka (तत्पुरुष: ‘महिष-नामक’) ; विशेषणम् (tīrtham इति विशेष्य)

• yasya: whose
• yasya: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; सम्बन्धे (relative pronoun)

• darśana-mātreṇa: by mere sight
• darśana-mātreṇa: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: darśana + mātra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन; समासः—darśana-mātra (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• mucyate: is freed
• mucyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √muc (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपदम्; कर्मणि प्रयोगः (passive)

• sarva-pātakaiḥ: from all sins
• sarva-pātakaiḥ: Apadana (Ablative sense via instrument: from sins/पापात्)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva + pātaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन; समासः—sarva-pātaka (कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष: ‘सर्वाणि पातकानि’)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Dvārakā Māhātmya narrative style within Skanda Purāṇa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mahiṣa tīrtha

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: viprendraḥ / brāhmaṇas

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim party arrives at a modest but radiant tīrtha-marker labeled ‘Mahiṣa’; the place shines with an inner light, and dark stains (symbolic sins) dissolve from the pilgrims’ bodies as they bow.

Characters & Entities

• Mahiṣa-tīrtha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pilgrimage is framed as a dharmic means of purification; even approaching a tīrtha with reverence is said to dissolve sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Mahiṣa-saṃjñaka tīrtha (the tīrtha called ‘Mahiṣa’).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Tīrtha-darśana—going to and beholding the sacred site.