Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 79

Devanagari script

ततोपि हि महातीर्थं सर्वपापप्रणाशनम् । यत्र भागीरथी साक्षान्मूर्तिरूपेण तिष्ठति

Transliteration

tatopi hi mahātīrthaṃ sarvapāpapraṇāśanam | yatra bhāgīrathī sākṣānmūrtirūpeṇa tiṣṭhati

Translation

അതിലും മഹത്തായ മഹാതീർത്ഥം ഉണ്ട്; അത് സർവ്വപാപനാശിനി—അവിടെ ഭാഗീരഥി (ഗംഗ) സ്വയം സാക്ഷാത് മൂർത്തിരൂപത്തിൽ വസിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: thereafter
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) — ‘thereafter/from that’

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

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात) — ‘indeed’

• mahā-tīrtham: great sacred place
• mahā-tīrtham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (‘mahā’ विशेषण + ‘tīrtha’), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• sarva-pāpa-praṇāśanam: destroyer of all sins
• sarva-pāpa-praṇāśanam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + praṇāśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (कर्मधारय/षष्ठीभाव: ‘of all sins’ + ‘destroyer’), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — qualifying ‘mahātīrtham’

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (relative adverb) — ‘where’

• bhāgīrathī: Bhāgīrathī (Ganga)
• bhāgīrathī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāgīrathī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/nominative), एकवचन — ‘Bhāgīrathī (Gaṅgā)’

• sākṣāt: directly/in person
• sākṣāt: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sākṣāt (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) — ‘directly/in person’

• mūrti-rūpeṇa: in embodied form
• mūrti-rūpeṇa: Karana (Instrument/Means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mūrti (प्रातिपदिक) + rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘mūrteḥ rūpam’), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/instrumental), एकवचन — ‘in the form of an embodied image’

• tiṣṭhati: stands/remains
• tiṣṭhati: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √sthā (स्था धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन — ‘stands/remains’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśī Khaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Bhāgīrathī-tīrtha

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Gaṅgā as Bhāgīrathī appears in anthropomorphic form—radiant goddess rising from the river at Kāśī, holding lotus and kamaṇḍalu, attended by nāgas and sages; the river itself glows as a living deity, signifying total sin-destruction.

Characters & Entities

• Bhāgīrathī (Gaṅgā)
• Mahātīrtha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The highest sanctity is attributed to places where the divine is believed to be tangibly present—making purification immediate and comprehensive.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Mahātīrtha where Bhāgīrathī (Gaṅgā) is said to abide in person—contextually, the Bhāgīrathī Tīrtha in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription in this verse; it establishes the tīrtha’s supreme sin-destroying nature.