Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 89

Devanagari script

सा तारयति पापिष्ठं यावदाभूतसंप्लवम् । इह पापक्षयं कृत्वा पश्चात्स्वर्गे महीयते

Transliteration

sā tārayati pāpiṣṭhaṃ yāvadābhūtasaṃplavam | iha pāpakṣayaṃ kṛtvā paścātsvarge mahīyate

Translation

Sie erlöst selbst den schlimmsten Sünder, bis zur Zeit der kosmischen Auflösung. Hier lässt sie die Sünde schwinden, und danach wird sie im Himmel geehrt.

Word by Word

• सा: she
• सा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन

• तारयति: saves/delivers
• तारयति: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: तॄ (धातु)
• Form: लट्; प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचन; परस्मैपद; णिच् (causative) अर्थः ‘causes to cross/save’

• पापिष्ठम्: the most sinful (man)
• पापिष्ठम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचन; तमप्-प्रत्यय (superlative) ‘most sinful’

• यावत्: as long as
• यावत्: Sambandha (Temporal limit/अवधि)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यावत् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधिवाचक (as long as/until)

• आभूतसंप्लवम्: until the great dissolution
• आभूतसंप्लवम्: Karma (Extent/कर्म-प्रवृत्ति)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आ + भूत + संप्लव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (आभूतः संप्लवः) = until the cosmic dissolution

• इह: here
• इह: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक (here/in this world)

• पापक्षयम्: destruction of sin
• पापक्षयम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप + क्षय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (पापस्य क्षयः)

• कृत्वा: having done
• कृत्वा: Kriya (Gerundial/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त; ‘having done’

• पश्चात्: afterwards
• पश्चात्: Sambandha (Temporal/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पश्चात् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक (afterwards)

• स्वर्गे: in heaven
• स्वर्गे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वर्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी; एकवचन

• महीयते: is honored
• महीयते: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मह् (धातु)
• Form: लट्; प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि/भावे ‘is honored/glorified’

Speaker

Unspecified (continuation of the same narrative voice in the Māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: King in the narrative frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic vision: the devoted wife’s act radiates light that lifts a dark, burdened soul upward; below, sin is shown as soot/black smoke dissolving; above, celestial beings honor her in svarga.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic dharma portrays certain self-sacrificial virtues as spiritually potent enough to neutralize grave sin and confer heavenly honor.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse occurs within the Vastrāpatha-kṣetra glorification in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The text highlights a wife’s extreme self-offering as a means of pāpakṣaya (sin-exhaustion) and upliftment.