Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 162

Devanagari script

य एष त्वद्गृहे वोढा ह्यतिभारधुरंधरः । अनेन मित्रहननं पापं विश्वासघातनम्

Transliteration

ya eṣa tvadgṛhe voḍhā hyatibhāradhuraṃdharaḥ | anena mitrahananaṃ pāpaṃ viśvāsaghātanam

Translation

നിന്റെ വീട്ടിലുള്ള ഈ ഭാരവാഹി, അതിഭാരം വഹിക്കാൻ സമർത്ഥൻ; ഇവൻ തന്നെ (പൂർവ്വജന്മത്തിൽ) മിത്രഹത്യയുടെ പാപം ചെയ്തു—വിശ്വാസഘാതമായ ദുഷ്കർമ്മം.

Word by Word

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• eṣaḥ: this (man)
• eṣaḥ: Apposition (Co-referent/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); सर्वनाम (demonstrative)

• tvad-gṛhe: in your house
• tvad-gṛhe: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + gṛha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular); तत्पुरुषः (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध: 'in your house')

• voḍhā: bearer/carrier
• voḍhā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vah (धातु) → voḍhṛ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); कर्तरि-तृच्/तृन्-प्रत्ययान्त (agent noun: 'carrier/bearer')

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha/Emphasis (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Indeclinable), निपात (emphasis)

• ati-bhāra-dhuraṃdharaḥ: one who bears extremely heavy burdens
• ati-bhāra-dhuraṃdharaḥ: Karta-predicative (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ati (अव्यय) + bhāra (प्रातिपदिक) + dhuraṃdhara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); उपपद-तत्पुरुष/बहुपद-समासः (ati- + bhāra- + dhuraṃdhara: 'one who bears very heavy burdens')

• anena: by him/with this
• anena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine/Neuter), तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन (Singular); सर्वनाम

• mitra-hananaṃ: killing of a friend
• mitra-hananaṃ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mitra (प्रातिपदिक) + hanana (प्रातिपदिक; √han धातु)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); तत्पुरुषः (object-determinative: 'killing of a friend')

• pāpaṃ: sinful
• pāpaṃ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); विशेषण (qualifying mitra-hananaṃ)

• viśvāsa-ghātanam: betrayal of trust
• viśvāsa-ghātanam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśvāsa (प्रातिपदिक) + ghātana (प्रातिपदिक; √han/√ghāt धात्वर्थ)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); तत्पुरुषः ('betrayal/destruction of trust')

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya (addressing a king, ‘rājan’ contextually)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Rājan

Visual Art Cues

Scene: In a royal courtyard, a strong load-bearing animal stands tethered; the narrator reveals its hidden past: a shadow-scene overlays—two friends, one betrayed—contrasting present servitude with past treachery.

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• rājan (king)
• tīrtha (implied context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Betrayal and violence against a friend are grave sins that bind the soul; karma follows even across births.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is embedded in the Revā Khaṇḍa’s tīrtha-māhātmya setting (a sacred ford associated with the Revā/Narmadā tradition), though the specific tīrtha name is not stated in this single shloka.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is stated here; the verse introduces the karmic background that later connects to tīrtha-based purification.