Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 68

Devanagari script

पापं सुवर्णचौर्यादि यत्र स्नात्वा क्षयं व्रजेत् । हंसतीर्थ ततोपीड्यं केदारेश्वर सन्निधौ

Transliteration

pāpaṃ suvarṇacauryādi yatra snātvā kṣayaṃ vrajet | haṃsatīrtha tatopīḍyaṃ kedāreśvara sannidhau

Translation

എവിടെ സ്നാനം ചെയ്താൽ സ്വർണചൗര്യാദി പാപങ്ങൾ ക്ഷയിച്ചുപോകുമോ—അതിനുശേഷം കേദാരേശ്വരസന്നിധിയിൽ പൂജ്യമായ ഹംസതീർത്ഥം ഉണ്ട്.

Word by Word

• पापम्: sin
• पापम्: कर्म/विषय (thing destroyed)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन

• सुवर्णचौर्यादि: gold-theft and the like
• सुवर्णचौर्यादि: पापविशेषण/समुच्चय (specifying kinds of sin)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुवर्ण + चौर्य + आदि (प्रातिपदिक-समूह)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (अव्ययीभाव-प्रायः ‘आदि’ अन्त); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘gold-theft etc.’

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: अधिकरण (Location)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक-सम्बन्ध (relative adverb: ‘where’)

• स्नात्वा: having bathed
• स्नात्वा: पूर्वकालक्रिया (absolutive; prior action)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: √स्ना (धातु) → स्नात्वा (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund); ‘having bathed’

• क्षयम्: destruction, end
• क्षयम्: कर्म (Object of ‘vrajet’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• व्रजेत्: would go/attain
• व्रजेत्: क्रिया (Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √व्रज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• हंसतीर्थम्: (the) Haṃsatīrtha
• हंसतीर्थम्: विशेष्य/नाम (Appositional name)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हंस + तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक-समूह)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (tīrtha-name)

• ततः: thereafter
• ततः: सम्बन्ध/क्रम
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; ‘thereafter/from there’

• अपि: also, even
• अपि: सम्बन्ध (emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle: ‘also/even’)

• ईड्यम्: praiseworthy
• ईड्यम्: विशेषण (of tīrtha)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √ईड् (धातु) → ईड्य (कृदन्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (यत्-प्रत्यय/भावे कर्मणि); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘praiseworthy’

• ततोऽपि: even more than that
• ततोऽपि: तुलना/अधिक्य (comparative relation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः + अपि (अव्यय-द्वय)
• Form: अव्ययसमूह; संधि (visarga→’o’): ‘even more than that’

• केदारेश्वर: Kedāreśvara
• केदारेश्वर: सम्बन्ध (association)
• Type: Noun
• Root: केदार + ईश्वर (प्रातिपदिक-समूह)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास; पुल्लिङ्ग; स्थान/देवनाम

• सन्निधौ: in the vicinity/presence
• सन्निधौ: अधिकरण (Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सन्निधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśī-khaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Haṃsa Tīrtha

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A questioning sage/assembly in Kāśī-māhātmya frame (not specified in excerpt)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At Kedāra-ghāṭa, a small sacred water-spot called Haṃsa Tīrtha; a pilgrim bathes while white swans glide nearby, and Kedāreśvara’s shrine rises behind with lamps and bilva garlands.

Characters & Entities

• Haṃsa Tīrtha
• Kedāreśvara
• suvarṇa-caurya (gold theft)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic dharma presents tīrtha-snānā as a potent means of prāyaścitta (expiation) for grave sins.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Haṃsa Tīrtha, associated with the neighborhood of Kedāreśvara.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (bathing) as expiation, explicitly including sins like theft of gold.