Padma Purana — Svarga Khanda, Shloka 17
The Greatness of the Revā (Narmadā): Release from the Piśāca Curse
प्रायाश्चित्तं न पश्यंति यस्मिन्पापे पिशाचक । तत्सर्वं नर्मदातोये स्नानमात्रेण नश्यति
prāyāścittaṃ na paśyaṃti yasminpāpe piśācaka | tatsarvaṃ narmadātoye snānamātreṇa naśyati
O Piśācaka, even that sin for which no expiation is seen is wholly destroyed merely by bathing in the sacred waters of the Narmadā.
Unspecified (contextual narrator/teacher addressing Piśācaka within the Svargakhaṇḍa dialogue frame)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Type: river
Sandhi Resolution Notes: प्रायाश्चित्तं→प्रायश्चित्तम्; पश्यंति→पश्यन्ति; यस्मिन्पापे→यस्मिन् पापे; तत्सर्वं→तत् सर्वम्; नर्मदातोये→नर्मदा-तोये (समास)।
FAQs
It presents the Narmadā as a supremely purifying sacred river, claiming that even sins considered beyond ordinary expiations can be destroyed simply through bathing in her waters.
No; it uses a rhetorical extreme—“even where no expiation is seen”—to emphasize the exceptional tīrtha-mahātmyā (greatness) of the Narmadā, not to deny the general validity of other atonements.
Alongside faith in sacred practices, the verse encourages humility and reform: purification is portrayed as accessible, but the implied aim is inner cleansing and a return to dharmic conduct rather than permission to continue wrongdoing.