Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

ओङ्कारतीर्थमारभ्य यावत्पश्चिमसागरम् । संगमाः पञ्चत्रिंशद्वै नदीनां पापनाशनाः

Transliteration

oṅkāratīrthamārabhya yāvatpaścimasāgaram | saṃgamāḥ pañcatriṃśadvai nadīnāṃ pāpanāśanāḥ

Translation

Depuis Oṅkāra-tīrtha jusqu’à l’Océan de l’Ouest, il y a vraiment trente-cinq saṅgamas, confluences de rivières qui anéantissent les péchés.

Word by Word

• oṅkāra: Oṅkāra
• oṅkāra: Apādāna (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: oṅkāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, समासाङ्ग

• tīrtham: from Oṅkāra-tīrtha
• tīrtham: Apādāna (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन (आभ्यर्थे/अपादाने); oṅkāra+tīrtham इति तत्पुरुषः (Oṅkāra-tīrtha)

• ārabhya: starting from
• ārabhya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ā√rabh (धातु) → ārabhya (कृदन्त-अव्यय)
• Form: क्त्वान्त/ल्यप्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund), ‘आरभ्य’ = starting from

• yāvat: up to
• yāvat: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Limit/पर्यन्त)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (limit marker), ‘up to/as far as’

• paścima: western
• paścima: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: paścima (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; सागरम् विशेषयति

• sāgaram: ocean
• sāgaram: Karma (Goal/कर्म-पर्यन्त)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sāgara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; पर्यन्त-सीमा (goal/limit)

• saṃgamāḥ: confluences
• saṃgamāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃgama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• pañcatriṃśat: thirty-five
• pañcatriṃśat: Viśeṣaṇa (Numeral qualifier/संख्या-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pañcatriṃśat (संख्याप्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्याशब्दः; प्रथमा बहुवचनार्थे (agreeing with saṃgamāḥ); पञ्च+त्रिंशत् इति संख्यासमाहार (35)

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), अव्यय; एव/खलु-भावे (indeed)

• nadīnām: of rivers
• nadīnām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nadī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन

• pāpa: sin
• pāpa: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, समासाङ्ग

• nāśanāḥ: destroyers (of sin)
• nāśanāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nāśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; pāpa+nāśanāḥ इति तत्पुरुषः (sin-destroying)

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) (deduced: Āvantya Khaṇḍa narration style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Oṅkāra-tīrtha to Paścima-sāgara saṅgama-mālā

Type: sangam

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis / dvija-śreṣṭhas

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A map-like panorama: Revā flowing from a central shrine at Oṅkāra-tīrtha, marked by many tributary confluences, finally meeting the vast western ocean; each saṅgama glows as a sacred node.

Characters & Entities

• Oṅkāra-tīrtha
• Paścima-sāgara (Western Ocean)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pilgrimage to sacred confluences is praised as a potent means of pāpa-kṣaya (dissolution of sin) through contact with sanctified waters and dharmic remembrance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Oṅkāra-tīrtha is given as the starting landmark, with the sacred route extending to the Western Ocean, framing the Revā/Narmadā sacred landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite is stated here; the verse generally extols saṅgama-darśana and implied snāna (holy bathing) as sin-destroying.