Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि शशापानमिति स्मृतम् । तस्यैव दक्षिणे तीर्थं सर्वपापप्रणाशनम्

Transliteration

īśvara uvāca | tato gacchenmahādevi śaśāpānamiti smṛtam | tasyaiva dakṣiṇe tīrthaṃ sarvapāpapraṇāśanam

Translation

Īśvara sprach: Dann, o große Göttin, soll man zu dem Ort gehen, der als Śaśāpāna bekannt ist. Zu seinem Süden hin liegt eine heilige Tīrtha, die alle Sünden vernichtet.

Word by Word

• īśvaraḥ: Īśvara (Lord Śiva)
• īśvaraḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचन

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect); प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person); एकवचन

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Sambandha
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अव्यय-क्रियाविशेषण (adverb of sequence)

• gacchet: one should go
• gacchet: Kriya
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative); प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचन

• mahādevi: O great goddess
• mahādevi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā-devī (प्रातिपदिक; महा + देवी)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन विभक्ति (Vocative); एकवचन

• śaśāpānam: Śaśāpāna (name of a place/tīrtha)
• śaśāpānam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaśa-apāna (प्रातिपदिक; शश + अपान)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative); एकवचन

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; इति-निपात (quotative particle)

• smṛtam: is remembered/known
• smṛtam: Kriya
• Type: Verb
• Root: smṛ (धातु) + ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया; एकवचन; (here: 'is known/remembered')

• tasya: of it/of that
• tasya: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक; षष्ठी विभक्ति (6th/Genitive); एकवचन

• eva: indeed
• eva: Sambandha
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण-निपात (emphatic particle)

• dakṣiṇe: to the south (side)
• dakṣiṇe: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: dakṣiṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी विभक्ति; एकवचन (directional locative)

• tīrtham: a sacred ford/pilgrimage spot
• tīrtham: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचन

• sarvapāpapraṇāśanam: destroyer of all sins
• sarvapāpapraṇāśanam: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva-pāpa-praṇāśana (प्रातिपदिक; सर्व + पाप + प्रणाशन)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying tīrtham)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Śaśāpāna (and the southern tīrtha unnamed here)

Type: tirtha

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahādevī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva instructs Devī, pointing southward on a sacred map-like landscape of Prabhāsa; pilgrims walk along a coastal path toward Śaśāpāna and the sin-destroying tīrtha beyond.

Characters & Entities

• Īśvara
• Mahādevī
• Śaśāpāna
• Tīrtha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śiva frames pilgrimage as a deliberate dharmic journey to sin-destroying tīrthas.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Śaśāpāna and a nearby southern tīrtha within Prabhāsakṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A pilgrimage instruction: ‘go’ (gacchet) to the site; bathing is implied later but not stated in this verse.