Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 28

Devanagari script

धौतपापे तु या नारी कुरुते प्राणसंक्षयम् । तत्क्षणादेव सा पार्थ पुरुषत्वमवाप्नुयात्

Transliteration

dhautapāpe tu yā nārī kurute prāṇasaṃkṣayam | tatkṣaṇādeva sā pārtha puruṣatvamavāpnuyāt

Translation

Mais, ô fils de Pṛthā, si une femme rencontre la mort à Dhautapāpa, à l’instant même on dit qu’elle obtient l’état d’homme.

Word by Word

• धौतपापे: in/at the ‘sin-cleansing’ (tīrtha/place)
• धौतपापे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धौतपाप (प्रातिपदिक; धौत + पाप)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरण (locative)

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), विरोध/विशेषार्थक

• या: who (a woman)
• या: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सम्बन्धबोधक (relative pronoun)

• नारी: woman
• नारी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नारी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• कुरुते: does/undertakes
• कुरुते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/वर्तमान), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• प्राणसंक्षयम्: loss of life; death
• प्राणसंक्षयम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणसंक्षय (प्रातिपदिक; प्राण + संक्षय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म (object)

• तत्क्षणात्: from that very moment
• तत्क्षणात्: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तत्क्षण (प्रातिपदिक; तत् + क्षण)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन; अपादान (ablative)

• एव: indeed/just
• एव: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• सा: she
• सा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; निर्देश (demonstrative)

• पार्थ: O Pārtha
• पार्थ: Sambodhana (Vocative/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• पुरुषत्वम्: manhood; male state
• पुरुषत्वम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुषत्व (प्रातिपदिक; पुरुष + त्व)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म (object)

• अवाप्नुयात्: would attain
• अवाप्नुयात्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अव-आप् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative/सम्भावना), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

Speaker

Unspecified narrator addressing a Kṣatriya listener (vocative: Pārtha)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dhautapāpa

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pārtha (Arjuna) is directly addressed; also ‘nṛpa’/kingly addressee appears in adjacent verses, indicating a royal listener frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sacred riverbank tīrtha named Dhautapāpa: a woman at the threshold of death, attended by subtle divine attendants; the tīrtha’s purifying radiance rises like a white-gold aura, signifying ‘washed sin’ and immediate transformation of destiny.

Characters & Entities

• Dhautapāpa Tīrtha
• Revā (Narmadā)
• Pārtha (epithet)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The verse uses striking phalaśruti language to stress the tīrtha’s exceptional power to transform one’s post-mortem condition.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dhautapāpa Tīrtha in the Revā Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a statement of result (phalaśruti) connected with dying at the tīrtha.