Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 27

Devanagari script

नर्मदातोयपूतेन भस्मनोद्धूलयन्ति ये । सद्यस्ते पापसङ्घाच्च मुच्यन्ते नात्र संशयः

Transliteration

narmadātoyapūtena bhasmanoddhūlayanti ye | sadyaste pāpasaṅghācca mucyante nātra saṃśayaḥ

Translation

Ceux qui se couvrent de la cendre sacrée purifiée par les eaux de la Narmadā sont aussitôt délivrés d’amas de péchés ; il n’y a là aucun doute.

Word by Word

• narmadā-toya-pūtena: purified by Narmadā water
• narmadā-toya-pūtena: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier of bhasmanā)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: narmadā (प्रातिपदिक) + toya (प्रातिपदिक) + pūta (कृदन्त; √pū पू ‘to purify’)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त ‘पूत’ — neuter, instrumental singular; “purified by Narmadā-water” (bhasmanā/bhasman understood)

• bhasmanā: with ash
• bhasmanā: Karaṇa (Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhasman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन — neuter, instrumental singular

• uddhūlayanti: smear/dust (themselves)
• uddhūlayanti: Kriyā (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ud- (उपसर्ग) + √dhūl/√dhū (धू ‘to shake/dust’) + aya (णिच्)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद; णिच्-प्रयोग (causative) — present indicative, 3rd person plural, active; “cause to be dusted/smear”

• ye: who
• ye: Karta (Subject of uddhūlayanti)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन — masculine, nominative plural; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम — relative pronoun “who”

• sadyaḥ: immediately
• sadyaḥ: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverb)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadyaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण) — adverb “immediately”

• te: they
• te: Karta (Subject of mucyante)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन — masculine, nominative plural; demonstrative pronoun “they”

• pāpa-saṅghāt: from the mass of sins
• pāpa-saṅghāt: Apādāna (Source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + saṅgha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन — masculine, ablative singular; “from the collection of sins”

• ca: and/even
• ca: Nipāta (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक) — conjunction “and” (here as emphatic with ablative: ‘even from’)

• mucyante: are freed
• mucyante: Kriyā (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √muc (मुच्)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद — present indicative, 3rd person plural, middle/passive sense “are released”

• na: not
• na: Nipāta (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निषेध) — negation particle

• atra: here/in this matter
• atra: Adhikaraṇa (Locative sense)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक) — adverb “here/in this matter”

• saṃśayaḥ: doubt
• saṃśayaḥ: Karta (Subject; with implied ‘asti’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃśaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — masculine, nominative singular

Speaker

Śaṅkara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā)

Type: river

Visual Art Cues

Scene: On the Narmadā ghāṭa, a devotee after bathing smears ash purified with river water; luminous river current behind, sins depicted as dark smoke dispersing.

Characters & Entities

• Narmadā
• Bhasma (sacred ash)
• Śaṅkara (implied by context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Contact with Narmadā-sanctified substances (here, sacred ash) is presented as a rapid purifier that burns away accumulated sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Revā (Narmadā) Tīrtha tradition—Narmadā as a sanctifying sacred river within the Revā Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Smearing the body with bhasma (sacred ash) that has been purified with Narmadā water.