Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 12

Devanagari script

ततो गच्छेत विप्रेन्द्रास्तीर्थं महिषसंज्ञकम् । यस्य दर्शनमात्रेण मुच्यते सर्वपातकैः

Transliteration

tato gaccheta viprendrāstīrthaṃ mahiṣasaṃjñakam | yasya darśanamātreṇa mucyate sarvapātakaiḥ

Translation

Alors, ô le meilleur des brāhmanes, qu’on se rende au tīrtha nommé Mahiṣa. Par le seul darśana (la vision sacrée), on est délivré de tous les péchés et de toutes les chutes.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Adhikaraṇa (Temporal/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: ‘thereupon/then’)

• gacchet: should go
• gacchet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √gam (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• vipra-indrāḥ: O best of Brahmins (lit. lords among Brahmins)
• vipra-indrāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra + indra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; समासः—viprendra (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘विप्राणाम् इन्द्राः’)

• tīrtham: to the sacred ford/place
• tīrtham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• mahiṣa-saṃjñakam: named ‘Mahiṣa’
• mahiṣa-saṃjñakam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahiṣa + saṃjñaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः—mahiṣa-saṃjñaka (तत्पुरुष: ‘महिष-नामक’) ; विशेषणम् (tīrtham इति विशेष्य)

• yasya: whose
• yasya: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; सम्बन्धे (relative pronoun)

• darśana-mātreṇa: by mere sight
• darśana-mātreṇa: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: darśana + mātra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन; समासः—darśana-mātra (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• mucyate: is freed
• mucyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √muc (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपदम्; कर्मणि प्रयोगः (passive)

• sarva-pātakaiḥ: from all sins
• sarva-pātakaiḥ: Apadana (Ablative sense via instrument: from sins/पापात्)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva + pātaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन; समासः—sarva-pātaka (कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष: ‘सर्वाणि पातकानि’)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Dvārakā Māhātmya narrative style within Skanda Purāṇa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mahiṣa tīrtha

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: viprendraḥ / brāhmaṇas

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim party arrives at a modest but radiant tīrtha-marker labeled ‘Mahiṣa’; the place shines with an inner light, and dark stains (symbolic sins) dissolve from the pilgrims’ bodies as they bow.

Characters & Entities

• Mahiṣa-tīrtha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pilgrimage is framed as a dharmic means of purification; even approaching a tīrtha with reverence is said to dissolve sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Mahiṣa-saṃjñaka tīrtha (the tīrtha called ‘Mahiṣa’).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Tīrtha-darśana—going to and beholding the sacred site.