Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 5

Devanagari script

ब्रह्महत्या गवां वध्या तत्र तीर्थे युधिष्ठिर । प्रविशेन्न सदा भीता प्रविष्टापि क्षयं व्रजेत्

Transliteration

brahmahatyā gavāṃ vadhyā tatra tīrthe yudhiṣṭhira | praviśenna sadā bhītā praviṣṭāpi kṣayaṃ vrajet

Translation

ഹേ യുധിഷ്ഠിരാ! ബ്രഹ്മഹത്യയും ഗോഹത്യയും എന്ന പാപം ആ തീർത്ഥത്തിലേക്ക് എപ്പോഴും ഭയത്തോടെ പ്രവേശിക്കുകയില്ല; പ്രവേശിച്ചാലും അവിടെ തന്നെ നശിച്ചുപോകും।

Word by Word

• ब्रह्महत्या: brahmin-slaying (sin)
• ब्रह्महत्या: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् + हत्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — Feminine, Nominative singular; तत्पुरुष (ब्रह्मणः हत्या)

• गवाम्: of cows
• गवाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गो (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन — Feminine, Genitive plural

• वध्या: liable to be slain/destroyed
• वध्या: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वध्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — Feminine, Nominative singular; विधेय-विशेषण (to ‘brahmahatyā’)

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (स्थानवाचक) — adverb ‘there’

• तीर्थे: in the tīrtha
• तीर्थे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन — Neuter, Locative singular

• युधिष्ठिर: O Yudhiṣṭhira
• युधिष्ठिर: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधि + स्थिर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन — Masculine, Vocative singular; बहुव्रीहि (युधि स्थिरः यस्य)

• प्रविशेत्: should enter
• प्रविशेत्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + विश् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ्, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद — Optative, 3rd sg, Parasmaipada

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निषेध) — negation

• सदा: always
• सदा: Sambandha (Temporal adverb/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (कालवाचक) — adverb ‘always’

• भीता: afraid
• भीता: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भी (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (भीत), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — Past participle used adjectivally; Feminine, Nominative singular

• प्रविष्टा: having entered
• प्रविष्टा: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्र + विश् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त, स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — Past participle; Feminine, Nominative singular

• अपि: even
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात) — ‘even/also’

• क्षयम्: destruction/cessation
• क्षयम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — Masculine, Accusative singular

• व्रजेत्: would go/attain
• व्रजेत्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्रज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ्, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद — Optative, 3rd sg, Parasmaipada

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dhauta-pāpa

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Personified Brahmahatyā and Go-vadha—dark, trembling figures—stand at the boundary of the shining ford, unable to cross; if they step in, they disintegrate into light.

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Dhauta-pāpa Tīrtha
• Brahmahatyā (sin)
• Gohatyā (cow-killing sin)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The tīrtha is exalted as so sanctifying that even the gravest sins are said to be unable to remain there.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dhauta-pāpa tīrtha in the Revā Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated in this verse; it emphasizes the tīrtha’s purificatory supremacy (a prāyaścitta-like effect).