Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 57

Devanagari script

मांसचर्मरसादीनां लवणस्य च विक्रयः । एवमादीन्य संख्यानि पापानि विविधानि च

Transliteration

māṃsacarmarasādīnāṃ lavaṇasya ca vikrayaḥ | evamādīnya saṃkhyāni pāpāni vividhāni ca

Translation

മാംസം, ചർമ്മം, മദ്യാദി രസങ്ങൾ, ഉപ്പ് എന്നിവയുടെ വിൽപ്പന; ഇങ്ങനെ അനവധി വിധത്തിലുള്ള അസംഖ്യ പാപങ്ങൾ പ്രസ്താവിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• मांसचर्मरसादीनाम्: of meat, hide, juice, etc.
• मांसचर्मरसादीनाम्: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मांस (प्रातिपदिक) + चर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + रस (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (समाहारद्वन्द्व), षष्ठी (6), बहुवचन; द्वन्द्वसमासः (मांस-चर्म-रस-आदि)

• लवणस्य: of salt
• लवणस्य: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लवण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• विक्रयः: selling
• विक्रयः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विक्रय (प्रातिपदिक; √क्री (धातु) उपसर्ग वि- + घञ्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• एवमादीनि: such and similar (things)
• एवमादीनि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; अव्ययीभावसमासः (एवम्-आदि = ‘such and so on’)

• संख्यानि: enumerations/listings
• संख्यानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संख्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• पापानि: sins
• पापानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• विविधानि: various
• विविधानि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (पापानि इति विशेष्यस्य)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

Speaker

Deductive attribution: Purāṇic narrator (likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa tradition within Brāhma Khaṇḍa)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A marketplace near a sacred town: stalls of meat/hides/liquor contrasted with a clean stall of grains/flowers; a sage indicates the difference between harmful and sattvic trade; the final line is shown as a horizon filled with countless shadowy ‘pāpa’ forms.

Characters & Entities

• Dharma
• Pāpa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma evaluates livelihood and commerce too; harmful or impure trades are counted among spiritual faults.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None; the verse concludes a general list of pāpas rather than praising a pilgrimage site.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is stated here; it summarizes the diversity and vastness of sins referenced in the surrounding passage.