Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 41

Devanagari script

एतत्ते कथितं सर्वं तीर्थमाहात्म्यमुत्तमम् । श्रुतमात्रेण येनैव मुच्यन्ते पातकैर्नराः

Transliteration

etatte kathitaṃ sarvaṃ tīrthamāhātmyamuttamam | śrutamātreṇa yenaiva mucyante pātakairnarāḥ

Translation

Ainsi t’ai-je entièrement rapporté la suprême grandeur de ce tīrtha ; par la seule écoute, les hommes sont délivrés des péchés.

Word by Word

• etat: this (thing)
• etat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (pronoun)

• te: of/for you
• te: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (genitive)

• kathitam: told, narrated
• kathitam: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kath (कथ् धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (past passive participle/क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे ‘कथितम्’ = ‘has been told’

• sarvam: all, entire
• sarvam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (सर्व-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषण

• tīrtha-māhātmyam: the greatness/glory of the pilgrimage-place
• tīrtha-māhātmyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक) + māhātmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष समास (tīrthasya māhātmyam); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन

• uttamam: supreme, excellent
• uttamam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषण

• śruta-mātreṇa: by mere hearing
• śruta-mātreṇa: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śruta (√śru धातु + kta क्त) + mātra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सप्तमी/तृतीया-समर्थभावे (instrumental sense) ‘मात्रेण’; तत्पुरुष (śrutasya mātram); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), एकवचन

• yena: by which
• yena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Avyaya (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle/emphasis)

• mucyante: are released, are freed
• mucyante: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √muc (मुच् धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), कर्मणि/आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• pātakaiḥ: from sins (lit. by/with sins as the cause)
• pātakaiḥ: Apadana (Ablative sense via instrumental/अपादानार्थ)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pātaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन

• narāḥ: men, people
• narāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narrator; likely continuing discourse to a listener)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (general phala-śruti for the section)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: King (addressed as rājendra in next verse)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage concludes a long tīrtha-māhātmya discourse to a kingly listener; the riverine sacred landscape is implied, with palm-leaf manuscripts and a gathered audience of pilgrims and brāhmaṇas.

Characters & Entities

• Tīrtha (Indratīrtha implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śravaṇa (devout listening) itself is purifying; sacred narration is treated as a spiritual practice.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Indratīrtha, whose māhātmya has just been narrated.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Śravaṇa—listening to the tīrtha’s māhātmya as a meritorious act.