Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 81

Devanagari script

हरपापं च भो वीर तीर्थं भागीरथीतटे । तत्र स्नात्वा क्षयं यांति महापापकुलान्यपि

Transliteration

harapāpaṃ ca bho vīra tīrthaṃ bhāgīrathītaṭe | tatra snātvā kṣayaṃ yāṃti mahāpāpakulānyapi

Translation

ഹേ വീരാ! ഭാഗീരഥീയുടെ തീരത്ത് ‘ഹരപാപ’ എന്ന തീർത്ഥമുണ്ട്; അവിടെ സ്നാനം ചെയ്താൽ മഹാപാപഭാരിത കുലങ്ങളുടെയും പാപം ക്ഷയിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• hara-pāpam: sin-destroying
• hara-pāpam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: hara (प्रातिपदिक) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (उपपद: ‘pāpaṃ harati’), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — qualifying ‘tīrtham’

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय) — ‘and’

• bho: O!
• bho: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: bho (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (सम्बोधन-निपात/vocative particle)

• vīra: hero
• vīra: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vīra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचन

• tīrtham: sacred place
• tīrtham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — ‘tirtha’

• bhāgīrathī-taṭe: on Bhāgīrathī’s bank
• bhāgīrathī-taṭe: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāgīrathī (प्रातिपदिक) + taṭa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘bhāgīrathyāḥ taṭaḥ’), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/locative), एकवचन — ‘on the bank of Bhāgīrathī’

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक) — ‘there’

• snātvā: having bathed
• snātvā: Kriya (पूर्वक्रिया/Adverbial action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √snā (स्ना धातु) + tvā (क्त्वा)
• Form: अव्ययकृदन्त (क्त्वा/gerund) — ‘having bathed’

• kṣayam: destruction/cessation
• kṣayam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/accusative), एकवचन — object (goal) with ‘yānti’

• yānti: attain/go to
• yānti: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √yā (या धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन — ‘go/attain’

• mahā-pāpa-kulāni: even families (tainted) with great sins
• mahā-pāpa-kulāni: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + kula (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (कर्मधारय/षष्ठीभाव: ‘of great sins’ + ‘families/lineages’), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/nominative), बहुवचन — subject of ‘yānti’

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

Speaker

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

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Harapāpa-tīrtha

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At Harapāpa-tīrtha, pilgrims bathe while a symbolic dark cloud of ‘ancestral sin’ dissolves; the Gaṅgā bank is lined with lamps and priests; the verse’s ‘O hero’ tone suggests a confident, cleansing rite.

Characters & Entities

• Harapāpa Tīrtha
• Bhāgīrathī (Gaṅgā)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purification in Kāśī is portrayed as extending beyond the individual—capable of exhausting even deep, inherited patterns of wrongdoing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Harapāpa Tīrtha, situated on the bank of Bhāgīrathī (Gaṅgā).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (bathing) at Harapāpa Tīrtha.