Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 78

Devanagari script

तरिस्तरणिजामित्रं तर्पिताशेषपूर्वजा । तुलाविरहिता तीव्रपापतूलतनूनपात्

Transliteration

taristaraṇijāmitraṃ tarpitāśeṣapūrvajā | tulāvirahitā tīvrapāpatūlatanūnapāt

Translation

അവൾ ഭവസാഗരം കടത്തുന്നവൾ, സൂര്യവംശത്തിന്റെ മിത്രിണി; എല്ലാ പിതൃകളെയും തർപ്പിച്ചു തൃപ്തിപ്പെടുത്തുന്നവൾ—അതുല്യ, കൂടാതെ ഘോരപാപങ്ങളുടെ ഘന ‘പഞ്ഞി’പോലുള്ള കൂമ്പാരവും ക്ഷീണിപ്പിച്ച് വീഴ്ത്തുന്നു।

Word by Word

• tari-staraṇijā-mitram: friend/ally of Tari and Staraṇijā (as a compound epithet)
• tari-staraṇijā-mitram: Karma/Predicate nominal (कर्म/विशेष्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tari (प्रातिपदिक) + staraṇijā (प्रातिपदिक) + mitra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषसमासः

• tarpitā-śeṣa-pūrvajā: who has satisfied all the ancestors
• tarpitā-śeṣa-pūrvajā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tarpitā (कृदन्त; √tṛp/तृप् (धातु) ‘तर्पणे’) + aśeṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + pūrvaja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘tarpitā’ = भूतकृदन्त (क्त) ‘तर्पिता’; तत्पुरुषः (अशेषान् पूर्वजान् तर्पयति/तर्पितवती)

• tulā-virahitā: devoid of comparison; incomparable
• tulā-virahitā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tulā (प्रातिपदिक) + virahitā (कृदन्त; √rah/रह् (धातु) ‘त्यागे/वियोगे’ with vi-)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (तुलायाः विरहिता)

• tīvra-pāpa-tūla-tanū-na-pāt: one for whom even intense sinful ‘cotton’ becomes thin and does not fall (i.e., sins are rendered powerless)
• tīvra-pāpa-tūla-tanū-na-pāt: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tīvra (प्रातिपदिक) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + tūla (प्रातिपदिक) + tanū (प्रातिपदिक) + na (अव्यय/निपात) + pāt (कृदन्त; √pat/पत् (धातु) ‘पातने/गमने’)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः; ‘na’ निपातः निषेधार्थः; ‘pāt’ = कृत्प्रत्ययान्त (घञ्/क्विप्-प्राय) ‘पातक/पातन’ अर्थे—‘न पातयति’ इत्यर्थे व्याख्येयम्

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā-tīrtha in Kāśī (tarpaṇa-pradhāna)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-oriented audience (ṛṣi-sabhā)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Pilgrims at a Kāśī ghāṭa offering tarpaṇa with cupped hands; Gaṅgā personified behind them as a compassionate goddess holding a kamaṇḍalu; a subtle ‘boat/ford’ motif indicating crossing; dark cotton-like clouds of sin dissolving into the river’s light.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Devī
• Sūrya (staraṇi/tapana)
• Pitṛs (ancestors)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Goddess is a liberating ‘ferry’ across saṃsāra who also grants purification—sins are lightened and destroyed through her grace and praise.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the implied sacred setting of this Devī-stuti in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, where acts of praise and remembrance are said to yield swift purification.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse alludes to pitṛ-tarpaṇa (satisfying ancestors), presenting the Goddess as the one who truly fulfills ancestral rites and their fruit.