Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 80

Devanagari script

महारौरवमाश्रित्य ध्रुवं वासो यमालये । ततः कालेन महता पापाः पापेन वेष्टिताः

Transliteration

mahārauravamāśritya dhruvaṃ vāso yamālaye | tataḥ kālena mahatā pāpāḥ pāpena veṣṭitāḥ

Translation

മഹാരൗരവത്തിൽ ഏല്പിക്കപ്പെട്ടവർ നിശ്ചയമായി യമാലയത്തിൽ വസിക്കുന്നു; പിന്നെ ദീർഘകാലത്തിന് ശേഷം പാപികൾ സ്വന്തം പാപംകൊണ്ടുതന്നെ പൊതിയപ്പെടുന്നു।

Word by Word

• महारौरवम्: Mahāraurava (hell)
• महारौरवम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + रौरव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास; नरकनाम

• आश्रित्य: having resorted to
• आश्रित्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आ-श्रि (धातु) + क्त्वा (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (gerund/absolutive)

• ध्रुवम्: certainly
• ध्रुवम्: Sambandha (Manner/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ध्रुव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण नपुंसक-द्वितीया-एकवचन (adverbial accusative)

• वासः: dwelling, abode
• वासः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• यमालये: in Yama's abode
• यमालये: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यम (प्रातिपदिक) + आलय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (यमस्य आलयः)

• ततः: then; thereafter
• ततः: Apadāna (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रम/अपादानार्थक-अव्यय (then/from there)

• कालेन: by time
• कालेन: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन

• महता: great, long
• महता: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; विशेषण—‘कालेन’

• पापाः: sinners
• पापाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• पापेन: by sin
• पापेन: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; भाववाचक-प्रयोग (by sin)

• वेष्टिताः: wrapped/encircled
• वेष्टिताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वेष्ट् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त; विशेषण—‘पापाः’

Speaker

Deductive: Skanda (Kārttikeya) narrating within Āvantya Khaṇḍa’s Reva Khaṇḍa frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Yama’s city with iron walls; Mahāraurava depicted as a pit/region of intense torment; sinners shown literally entwined by dark serpentine bands labeled ‘pāpa’, illustrating ‘pāpāḥ pāpena veṣṭitāḥ’.

Characters & Entities

• Mahāraurava (Naraka)
• Yama
• Yamālaya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

One is bound by one’s own actions; pāpa becomes a self-made enclosure that carries the soul into Yama’s punitive realms.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not a tīrtha-verse; it is an afterlife warning within the Reva Khaṇḍa’s Revā-region narrative setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None is explicit; the verse implicitly urges purification through dharma to avoid Yama’s realms.