Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 96

Devanagari script

वापीकूपतडागेषु यत्रयत्र जलं द्विजाः । तत्रतत्र नरः स्नातः सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते

Transliteration

vāpīkūpataḍāgeṣu yatrayatra jalaṃ dvijāḥ | tatratatra naraḥ snātaḥ sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate

Translation

Wahai para dwija, di mana pun ada air—di vāpī (sumur bertangga), di sumur, atau di kolam—siapa pun yang mandi di sana terbebas dari segala dosa.

Word by Word

• वापी-कूप-तडागेषु: in wells, ponds, and tanks
• वापी-कूप-तडागेषु: Adhikarana (Locus)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वापी (प्रातिपदिक) + कूप (प्रातिपदिक) + तडाग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वन्द्व-समासः (समाहार/इतरेतर), पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग-प्रयोगः; सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), बहुवचन

• यत्र-यत्र: wherever
• यत्र-यत्र: Adhikarana (Place)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक; पुनरुक्ति (wherever)

• जलम्: water
• जलम्: Karta (Subject of implied ‘is’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; अस्ति-लुप्ते वाक्ये ‘जलम् (अस्ति)’

• द्विजाः: O Brahmins (twice-born)
• द्विजाः: Sambodhana/Address (Vocative sense)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; सम्बोधनार्थे अपि (O twice-born)

• तत्र-तत्र: there, in each such place
• तत्र-तत्र: Adhikarana (Place)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक; पुनरुक्ति (there and there/wherever there)

• नरः: a man
• नरः: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• स्नातः: having bathed
• स्नातः: Karta (Agent, participial)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्ना (धातु) → स्नात (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्ययान्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्तरि-प्रयोगः ‘having bathed’

• सर्व-पापैः: from all sins
• सर्व-पापैः: Apadana (Separation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समासः; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण) बहुवचन; अपादानार्थे तृतीया (from all sins)

• प्रमुच्यते: is freed/released
• प्रमुच्यते: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-मुच् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; कर्मणि/भावे प्रयोगः ‘is released’

Speaker

Narratorial voice (Sūta implied by Māhātmya context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra waters (vāpi-kūpa-taḍāga)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Dvijas (addressed: ‘dvijāḥ’)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Multiple water-sites within a sacred field—stepwell, well, and pond—each hosting devotees bathing; priests chant; the landscape signals that ‘wherever there is water, there is purification’.

Characters & Entities

• Dvija (twice-born)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Contact with sacred water through bathing is presented as a powerful purifier that removes accumulated sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The waters found within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (as described in Adhyāya 26 of Nāgara Khaṇḍa).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (ritual bathing) in any available water source of the kṣetra—stepwell, well, or pond.