Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 45

Devanagari script

तदग्रे नारदं तीर्थं महापातकनाशनम् । ब्रह्मविद्योपदेशं च प्राप्तवान्यत्र नारदः

Transliteration

tadagre nāradaṃ tīrthaṃ mahāpātakanāśanam | brahmavidyopadeśaṃ ca prāptavānyatra nāradaḥ

Translation

Au-delà se trouve le Nārada-tīrtha, qui détruit les grands péchés ; c’est là que Nārada reçut l’enseignement de la brahma-vidyā, la connaissance de Brahman.

Word by Word

• तत्-अग्रे: in front of that / ahead of it
• तत्-अग्रे: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + अग्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभावसमासः; अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः — Locative sense ‘in front of that/thereafter’

• नारदम्: Nārada-named
• नारदम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नारद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — Nominative singular; विशेषणम् (नारदं तीर्थम्)

• तीर्थम्: a sacred place
• तीर्थम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — Nominative singular

• महा-पातक-नाशनम्: destroyer of great sins
• महा-पातक-नाशनम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + पातक (प्रातिपदिक) + नाशन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — Nominative singular; विशेषणम्; समासः तत्पुरुषः — महतां पातकानां नाशनम्

• ब्रह्मविद्या-उपदेशम्: instruction in brahma-knowledge
• ब्रह्मविद्या-उपदेशम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मविद्या (प्रातिपदिक) + उपदेश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन — Accusative singular; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (ब्रह्मविद्यायाः उपदेशः)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय (conjunction)

• प्राप्तवान्: obtained
• प्राप्तवान्: Kriya (Predicative action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + आप् (धातु)
• Form: क्तवतु-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (Perfect participle/क्तवतु), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — ‘having obtained’ (finite sense with implied ‘अस्ति’)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्धबोधक-अव्यय (relative adverb of place)

• नारदः: Nārada
• नारदः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नारद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — Nominative singular

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, typically Skanda instructing Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Nārada-tīrtha

Type: kund

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A serene tīrtha pool/ghāṭa labeled Nārada-tīrtha; Nārada, with vīṇā, receives brahma-vidyā instruction from a luminous sage/Keśava presence; the water glows as sins dissolve like dark smoke.

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• Nārada-tīrtha
• Brahma-vidyā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True purification culminates in wisdom: the tīrtha removes grave sin and points toward brahma-vidyā.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Nārada-tīrtha, famed for destroying mahāpātakas and linked to Nārada’s spiritual instruction.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse chiefly identifies the tīrtha and its power; it implies pilgrimage and snāna as the standard tīrtha practice.