Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 27

Devanagari script

ध्यानयोगेन पापानां क्षयो भवति नान्यथा । जपध्यानमयो योगः कर्मयोगो न संशयः

Transliteration

dhyānayogena pāpānāṃ kṣayo bhavati nānyathā | japadhyānamayo yogaḥ karmayogo na saṃśayaḥ

Translation

Par le dhyāna-yoga s’opère la destruction des péchés—par nul autre moyen. Le yoga fait de japa et de méditation est, sans doute, le véritable karma-yoga.

Word by Word

• ध्यानयोगेन: by meditation-yoga
• ध्यानयोगेन: Karana (Instrument/Means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ध्यान (प्रातिपदिक) + योग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• पापानाम्: of sins
• पापानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• क्षयः: destruction, cessation
• क्षयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• भवति: happens, occurs
• भवति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √भू (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध (negation particle)

• अन्यथा: otherwise
• अन्यथा: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anyathā (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• जपध्यानमयः: consisting of japa and meditation
• जपध्यानमयः: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जप (प्रातिपदिक) + ध्यान (प्रातिपदिक) + मय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• योगः: yoga
• योगः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yoga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• कर्मयोगः: karma-yoga
• कर्मयोगः: Pratijna (Predicate nominative/प्रत्यय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + योग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• न: no, not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध (negation particle)

• संशयः: doubt
• संशयः: Pratishedha (Negated predicate/निषेध्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃśaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A meditator sits in padmāsana with a japa-mālā; dark smoke-like ‘sins’ dissolve into light around the head and heart; behind, a faint tīrtha river suggests outer pilgrimage mirrored by inner cleansing.

Characters & Entities

• Dhyānayoga
• Japa
• Karma-yoga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sustained meditation, supported by mantra-japa, is presented as the sure means of pāpa-kṣaya and dharmic transformation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No particular tīrtha is named; the teaching frames inner discipline as the heart of tīrtha-merit.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Practice a combined discipline of japa and dhyāna, understood as karma-yoga within Purāṇic practice.