Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 180

Devanagari script

जन्मांतर सहस्रेषु यत्पापं सम्यगर्जितम् । गंगानामसहस्रस्य जपनात्तत्क्षयं व्रजेत्

Transliteration

janmāṃtara sahasreṣu yatpāpaṃ samyagarjitam | gaṃgānāmasahasrasya japanāttatkṣayaṃ vrajet

Translation

Quel que soit le péché réellement amassé au cours de milliers de naissances, par la récitation des mille noms de Gaṅgā, il s’éteint et va à sa destruction.

Word by Word

• janma-antara: (in) other births
• janma-antara: Adhikaraṇa (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janman (प्रातिपदिक) + antara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; (सहस्रेषु इति) विशेष्यभावेन समासपूर्वपदम्; here used as qualifier ‘other births’

• sahasreṣu: in thousands
• sahasreṣu: Adhikaraṇa (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; अधिकरण; Locative plural

• yat: whatever
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम; ‘whatever/that which’

• pāpam: sin
• pāpam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; (यत् इति) विशेष्य; Accusative singular as object of ‘arjitam’ (earned)

• samyak: fully
• samyak: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: samyak (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषणम्; adverb ‘properly/fully’

• arjitam: acquired
• arjitam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √arj (धातु) + kta (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; (पापम् इति) विशेषणम्; past passive participle ‘earned’

• gaṃgā-nāma-sahasrasya: of the thousand names of Gaṅgā
• gaṃgā-nāma-sahasrasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gaṃgā (प्रातिपदिक) + nāman (प्रातिपदिक) + sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्ध (genitive)

• japanāt: by recitation
• japanāt: Hetu/Apadana (Cause/Source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: japana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; हेत्वर्थे अपादान; Ablative singular ‘by/from the act of reciting’

• tat: that (sin)
• tat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; (क्षयम् इति) विशेषणम्; ‘that’

• kṣayam: destruction
• kṣayam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्म; Accusative singular

• vrajet: would go to / would attain
• vrajet: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vraj (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (लिङ्-लकार), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; Optative, 3rd sg.

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Jāhnavī)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A sage (muni)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A scroll-like depiction of Gaṅgā as a radiant goddess emerging from flowing waters, surrounded by a halo of a thousand small name-glyphs dissolving dark karmic smoke rising from a kneeling devotee.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotional remembrance of Gaṅgā through her names is presented as a supreme purifier beyond the burden of many lifetimes.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gaṅgā in the Kāśī milieu—implying the Gaṅgā ghāṭas and sacred river-presence central to Kāśīkhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Japa of the Gaṅgā-nāma-sahasra (chanting the thousand names of Gaṅgā).