Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 29

Devanagari script

आरामस्थतरुच्छेदमगम्यागमनोद्भवम् । स्वभार्यात्यजने यच्च परभार्यासमीहनात्

Transliteration

ārāmasthatarucchedamagamyāgamanodbhavam | svabhāryātyajane yacca parabhāryāsamīhanāt

Translation

園の樹を伐ることから生じる罪、近づくべからざる女に近づくことより生まれる罪、正しき自らの妻を捨てることで負う罪、そして他人の妻を欲することから起こる罪——（これらすべてがここに説かれる）。

Word by Word

• आराम-स्थ-तरु-छेदम्: cutting trees in a garden
• आराम-स्थ-तरु-छेदम्: Karma/Artha (Object/Topic; कर्म/विषय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आराम (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थ (कृदन्त; √स्था) + तरु (प्रातिपदिक) + छेद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः — ‘cutting of trees situated in a garden’

• अगम्य-आगमन-उद्भवम्: arising from approaching the forbidden
• अगम्य-आगमन-उद्भवम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अगम्य (कृदन्त; √गम्, ‘not to be approached’) + आगमन (प्रातिपदिक; √गम्) + उद्भव (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त; √भू)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः — ‘arising from going to the forbidden (woman/place)’

• स्व-भार्या-त्यजने: in abandoning one’s own wife
• स्व-भार्या-त्यजने: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व (प्रातिपदिक) + भार्या (प्रातिपदिक) + त्यजन (भाव; √त्यज्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः — ‘in abandoning one’s own wife’

• यत्: which
• यत्: Sambandha (Relative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक — ‘which’

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• पर-भार्या-समीहनात्: from desiring another’s wife
• पर-भार्या-समीहनात्: Apadana (Ablative source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक) + भार्या (प्रातिपदिक) + समीहन (भाव; √ईह्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः — ‘from desiring another’s wife’

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya (contextual, continuing discourse to Yudhiṣṭhira)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrthas (general)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Two-layer narrative: foreground shows pilgrims at a serene garden-ghāṭa with intact trees; background vignettes show a man cutting trees and another turning away from his wife toward forbidden desire—both scenes fading as the river’s sanctity and repentance prevail.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma is protected by restraint—guarding family fidelity, respecting boundaries, and avoiding harm to living environments.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse lists sins; the surrounding passage (Revā Khaṇḍa) later connects purification to tīrtha and dāna, rather than naming a site here.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct rite is stated in this verse; it prepares the ground for later prescriptions of dāna/tīrtha that dissolve such pāpa.