Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 52

Devanagari script

हीनजातिप्रजातानां महदह्यति पातकम्

Transliteration

hīnajātiprajātānāṃ mahadahyati pātakam

Translation

નીચ સ્થિતિમાં જન્મેલાઓ માટે પણ, આ પવિત્ર ઉપાયથી મહાપાપ પણ દગ્ધ થઈ નાશ પામે છે।

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.