Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 40

Devanagari script

वनानि नंदनादीनि पर्वता मंदरादयः । नामोच्चारेण येषां हि पापं याति रसातले

Transliteration

vanāni naṃdanādīni parvatā maṃdarādayaḥ | nāmoccāreṇa yeṣāṃ hi pāpaṃ yāti rasātale

Translation

Wälder wie Nandana und Berge wie Mandara—durch das bloße Aussprechen ihrer Namen stürzt die Sünde in die Tiefen der Unterwelt.

Word by Word

• वनानि: forests
• वनानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• नंदनादीनि: such as Nandana (etc.)
• नंदनादीनि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नन्दन + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; समासः—नन्दन-आदीनि (beginning with Nandana)

• पर्वताः: mountains
• पर्वताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर्वत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• मंदरादयः: such as Mandara (etc.)
• मंदरादयः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मन्दर + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; समासः—मन्दर-आदयः (beginning with Mandara)

• नामोच्चारेण: by uttering the name
• नामोच्चारेण: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नामन् + उच्चारण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), एकवचन; समासः—नाम्नः उच्चारणम् (uttering the name)

• येषाम्: of which/whose
• येषाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), बहुवचन

• हि: indeed/for
• हि: Sambandha (Emphasis/Reason)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle: indeed/for)

• पापम्: sin
• पापम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• याति: goes
• याति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √या (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• रसातले: to the netherworld (Rasātala)
• रसातले: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रसातल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (contextual; prior speaker not explicit in this verse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Nandana-vana; Mandara-parvata (exemplary sacred loci)

Type: peak

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Gaja

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A visionary tableau: the celestial Nandana forest with flowering trees and apsarases in the distance; Mandara mountain rises like a cosmic pillar. In the foreground, a devotee chants the names; dark, smoky forms symbolizing sins tumble downward into a chasm labeled rasātala.

Characters & Entities

• Nandana
• Mandara
• Rasātala

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Remembering and uttering sacred names is presented as a potent purifier that drives sin away.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse uses exemplary sacred places (Nandana forest, Mandara mountain) to frame the broader Māhātmya context of holy geography within Prabhāsa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Nāma-uccāraṇa—devotional utterance/recitation of sacred names.