Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 44

Devanagari script

सदा शुचिर्देवयाजी तीर्थसारं गृहेगृह । नापः पुनंति पापानि न शैला न महाश्रमाः

Transliteration

sadā śucirdevayājī tīrthasāraṃ gṛhegṛha | nāpaḥ punaṃti pāpāni na śailā na mahāśramāḥ

Translation

Always pure and devoted to the worship of the gods, he becomes the very essence of tīrthas in every home. It is not mere waters that cleanse sins—nor mountains, nor great hermitages.

Word by Word

• सदा: always
• सदा: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of time: always)

• शुचिः: pure
• शुचिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुचि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• देवयाजी: one who worships the gods
• देवयाजी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक) + याजिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (देवान् यजते इति)

• तीर्थसारम्: the essence of pilgrimage
• तीर्थसारम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक) + सार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (तीर्थस्य सारः)

• गृहे: in a house
• गृहे: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गृह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• गृह: house (each)
• गृह: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गृह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; पुनरुक्ति-प्रयोग (गृहे गृहे = in every house)

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात (negation)

• आपः: waters
• आपः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अप् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (बहुवचन-प्रयोग), प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• पुनन्ति: purify
• पुनन्ति: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पू (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• पापानि: sins
• पापानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• शैलाः: mountains
• शैलाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शैल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• महाश्रमाः: great hermitages
• महाश्रमाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + आश्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मधारय (महान् आश्रमः)

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gṛha-tīrtha (home as tīrtha by conduct)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A spotless home shrine with lamp, bilva leaves, and water pot; the worshipper radiates sanctity while symbolic river, mountain, and hermitage appear secondary in the background, indicating their insufficiency without inner purity.

Characters & Entities

• tīrtha
• deva
• pāpa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Inner purity and devotion make a person ‘tīrtha-like’; external places and waters alone do not erase sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single site is named; the teaching reframes tīrtha as realized purity present wherever the righteous dwell.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Devayajana (worship of the gods) is praised; bathing and pilgrimage are relativized without inner transformation.