Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 28

Devanagari script

कूपभेदोद्भवं यच्च बैडालव्रतधारिणः । दाम्भिकं वृक्षच्छेदोत्थं विवाहस्य निषेधजम्

Transliteration

kūpabhedodbhavaṃ yacca baiḍālavratadhāriṇaḥ | dāmbhikaṃ vṛkṣacchedotthaṃ vivāhasya niṣedhajam

Translation

De même, le péché né de la rupture d’un puits ; celui de qui porte le « vœu du chat » (ascèse hypocrite) ; le péché de la duplicité ; celui qui vient de l’abattage des arbres ; et celui qui naît de l’entrave au mariage—

Word by Word

• कूप-भेद-उद्भवम्: arising from breaking a well
• कूप-भेद-उद्भवम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कूप (प्रातिपदिक) + भेद (प्रातिपदिक) + उद्भव (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त; √भू)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः — ‘arising from breaking a well’

• यत्: which
• यत्: Sambandha (Relative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक — ‘which’

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• बैडाल-व्रत-धारिणः: of the observer of the ‘cat-vow’
• बैडाल-व्रत-धारिणः: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बैडाल (प्रातिपदिक) + व्रत (प्रातिपदिक) + धारिन् (प्रातिपदिक; √धृ)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः — ‘of one who holds the “cat-vow” (hypocritical vow)’

• दाम्भिकम्: hypocritical
• दाम्भिकम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दाम्भिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण — ‘hypocritical/pretentious’

• वृक्ष-छेद-उत्थम्: arising from cutting trees
• वृक्ष-छेद-उत्थम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वृक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + छेद (प्रातिपदिक) + उत्थ (कृदन्त; √स्था/उत्था)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः — ‘arising from cutting trees’

• विवाहस्य: of marriage
• विवाहस्य: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विवाह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन — ‘of marriage’

• निषेध-जम्: born of prohibition (of marriage)
• निषेध-जम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निषेध (प्रातिपदिक) + ज (कृदन्त; √जन्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः — ‘born from prohibition/forbidding’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; continuation of the list of sins whose dissolution is promised through dharmic acts in the tīrtha context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrthas (general)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A riverbank sermon scene: a sage points toward a well and a grove; hypocritical ascetic (cat-vow) is shown with a mask-like face; villagers replant trees and celebrate a marriage procession, symbolizing restoration of dharma.

Characters & Entities

• Baiḍālavrata (cat-vow)
• Vivāha (marriage)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True dharma condemns hypocrisy and harm to communal resources (wells, trees) and social order (marriage).

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Revā tīrtha sphere of the Revā Khaṇḍa, within which purification from such sins is taught.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

This verse lists transgressions; the passage’s remedy is tīrtha-snān, devotion, and dāna as purifiers.