Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 167

Devanagari script

पतितानां च संभाषे कुर्यादाचमनिक्रियाम् । अध्येतव्या त्रयी नित्यं भवितव्यं विपश्चिता

Transliteration

patitānāṃ ca saṃbhāṣe kuryādācamanikriyām | adhyetavyā trayī nityaṃ bhavitavyaṃ vipaścitā

Translation

പതിതരുമായി (ധർമ്മച്യുതരുമായി) സംസാരിച്ചതിന് ശേഷം ആചമനക്രിയ ചെയ്യണം. നിത്യമായി വേദത്രയി പഠിച്ച്, യഥാർത്ഥ വിവേകിയായി മാറാൻ പരിശ്രമിക്കണം.

Word by Word

• patitānām: of the fallen (persons)
• patitānām: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: patita (प्रातिपदिक; √pat + क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th case/Genitive), बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चयार्थक (and)

• saṃbhāṣe: in conversation
• saṃbhāṣe: Adhikaraṇa (Locative circumstance)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃbhāṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन

• kuryāt: should do
• kuryāt: Kriyā (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

• ācamani-kriyām: the sipping (ācamana) rite
• ācamani-kriyām: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ācamana + kriyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (कर्मधारय/षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘ācamana-rite’), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd case/Accusative), एकवचन

• adhyetavyā: is to be studied
• adhyetavyā: Kriyā (Predicate; injunction)
• Type: Verb
• Root: adhi-√i (धातु) + तव्यत्
• Form: तव्यत्-प्रत्ययान्त (gerundive/future passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विधेय (to be studied)

• trayī: the Vedic triad (three Vedas)
• trayī: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: trayī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• nityam: always
• nityam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nityam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, कालवाचक (adverb: always)

• bhavitavyam: should be / must become
• bhavitavyam: Kriyā (Predicate; injunction)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (धातु) + तव्यत्
• Form: तव्यत्-प्रत्ययान्त (gerundive), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘must be/should become’ (impersonal)

• vipaścitā: by a wise person
• vipaścitā: Karta (Agent/Doer)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vipaścit (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd case/Instrumental), एकवचन; साधन/कर्तृवाचक प्रयोग: ‘by/with a wise (person)’

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) to the sages

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim-scholar converses briefly with a disheveled outcaste figure at a roadside; afterward he steps aside, performs ācamana, then opens a palm-leaf manuscript for svādhyāya.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Maintain discernment and purity through corrective rites and steady scriptural study.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No site is named; the verse is a general dharma injunction.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Perform ācamana after certain contacts (here, conversation with the ‘patita’); undertake daily study of the trayī.