Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 30

Devanagari script

उपपातकमध्यस्तं महापातकतां व्रजेत्

Transliteration

upapātakamadhyastaṃ mahāpātakatāṃ vrajet

Translation

Celui qui demeure enlisé dans une faute mineure (upapātaka) peut, par là même, tomber dans l’état de grande faute (mahāpātaka).

Word by Word

• उपपातक: minor sin
• उपपातक: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपपातक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; समासपूर्वपद-रूपेण

• अध्यस्तम्: resting upon/associated with
• अध्यस्तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधि-स्था (धातु) → अध्यस्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त/PPP), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; ‘उपपातकमध्यस्तम्’ इति समासे उत्तरपद

• महापातकताम्: the state of a great sin
• महापातकताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महापातक (प्रातिपदिक) + ता (तद्धित)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; गत्यर्थक्रियायाः कर्म

• व्रजेत्: would go/attain
• व्रजेत्: Kriya (Predicate action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्रज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) to the sages (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kedāra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A moral allegory: a traveler at a forked path—one clean and luminous leading to a Śiva shrine, another darkening as small missteps accumulate into a precipice labeled mahāpātaka.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Unchecked faults grow; neglecting reform can transform lesser wrongdoing into grave spiritual ruin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is named; the verse gives a general dharma warning within the Kedāra narrative frame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, one should not remain in sin and should undertake correction/expiation; no specific rite is detailed here.