Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 85

Devanagari script

सर्वपापविनिर्मुक्तो यद्यपि स्यात्सुपापकृत्

Transliteration

sarvapāpavinirmukto yadyapi syātsupāpakṛt

Translation

Même s’il était un pécheur accablé de fautes, il sera entièrement délivré de tous les péchés.

Word by Word

• sarva-pāpa-vinirmuktaḥ: freed from all sins
• sarva-pāpa-vinirmuktaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + vi-nis-√muc (धातु) → vinirmukta (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Masculine, Nominative, Singular); बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः (‘सर्वेभ्यः पापेभ्यः विनिर्मुक्तः’)

• yadi: even if/if
• yadi: Sambandha/Particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; शर्तबोधक (conditional particle: if)

• api: even
• api: Sambandha/Particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (even/also)

• syāt: should be / may be
• syāt: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• su-pāpa-kṛt: a great sinner
• su-pāpa-kṛt: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: su (अव्यय/उपसर्गवत्) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + kṛt (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √kṛ, कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Masculine, Nominative, Singular); उपपद-तत्पुरुषः (‘पापं करोति’); ‘सु’ = अतिशयार्थक (very)

Speaker

Purāṇic narrator / Śiva (deduced; verse continues the stated fruits of the tīrtha and liṅga worship)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Paired tīrthas (Śūdrī–Brāhmaṇī) with Śiva-liṅga worship

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sinner, burdened and remorseful, bathes at the tīrtha and emerges radiant; the liṅga shrine stands nearby as a symbol of cleansing grace.

Characters & Entities

• Pāpa (sin)
• Puṇya (implied)
• Tīrtha (context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

No one is beyond purification: sincere engagement with the tīrtha’s prescribed devotion can remove even severe sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The tīrthayugma described in Nāgarakhaṇḍa, Tīrthamāhātmya (Adhyāya 198), whose rites are said to destroy sins.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse summarizes the fruit (sin-removal) of the earlier prescriptions of tīrtha-snān and liṅga worship.