Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 52

Devanagari script

हीनजातिप्रजातानां महदह्यति पातकम्

Transliteration

hīnajātiprajātānāṃ mahadahyati pātakam

Translation

Pour ceux qui naissent dans une condition sociale humble, même la grande faute est consumée (par ce moyen sacré).

Word by Word

• हीन-जाति-प्रजातानाम्: of those born in low castes
• हीन-जाति-प्रजातानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हीन (प्रातिपदिक) + जाति (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रजात (प्रातिपदिक; √जन्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (हीनायां जातौ प्रजाताः)

• महत्: great
• महत्: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; ‘पातकम्’ इति विशेषणम्

• अह्यति: burns away, destroys
• अह्यति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अह् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; अर्थे ‘दहति/नाशयति’

• पातकम्: sin
• पातकम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पातक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

Speaker

Brahmā (in Brahmā–Nārada dialogue; context of Rāmanāma-mahimā)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nārada

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A diverse group of pilgrims—humble laborers, women, ascetics—stand before a shrine, flames of a sacrificial lamp symbolically burning dark smoke labeled ‘pātaka’, while the sound-form ‘Rāma’ rises like light.

Characters & Entities

• Rāma

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine name-remembrance is a universally accessible purifier that destroys even grave wrongdoing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader passage sits within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya of the Nāgara Khaṇḍa (Tīrthamāhātmya section).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, nāma-japa (repetition of the divine name), here connected to the glorification of Rāma-nāma.