Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 46

Devanagari script

एतद्वः सर्वमाख्यातं विष्णुपद्याः समुद्भवम् । माहात्म्यं ब्राह्मणश्रेष्ठाः सर्वपातकनाशनम्

Transliteration

etadvaḥ sarvamākhyātaṃ viṣṇupadyāḥ samudbhavam | māhātmyaṃ brāhmaṇaśreṣṭhāḥ sarvapātakanāśanam

Translation

‘വിഷ്ണുപദിയുടെ ഉദ്ഭവത്തെക്കുറിച്ച് ഇതെല്ലാം നിങ്ങളോടു വിശദമായി പറഞ്ഞു. ഹേ ബ്രാഹ്മണശ്രേഷ്ഠന്മാരേ! ഈ മാഹാത്മ്യം സർവ്വ പാതകങ്ങളെയും നശിപ്പിക്കുന്നതാണ്.’

Word by Word

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; अत्र कर्म/विषयार्थे (this)

• vaḥ: to you (all)
• vaḥ: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी/चतुर्थी (genitive/dative), बहुवचन; 'to you/for you'

• sarvam: all, entire
• sarvam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (एतत्)

• ākhyātam: has been narrated
• ākhyātam: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā√khyā (धातु) (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; 'told/declared'

• viṣṇupadyāḥ: of Viṣṇupadī
• viṣṇupadyāḥ: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viṣṇupadī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• samudbhavam: origin, arising
• samudbhavam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: samudbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (एतत्/आख्यातम्-विषय)

• māhātmyam: the greatness (māhātmya)
• māhātmyam: Karma/Visaya (Topic)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māhātmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विषय/वस्तु

• brāhmaṇaśreṣṭhāḥ: O best of Brahmins
• brāhmaṇaśreṣṭhāḥ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + śreṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/vocative), बहुवचन; समास: ब्राह्मणेषु श्रेष्ठाः (सप्तमी-तत्पुरुष)

• sarvapātakanāśanam: destroyer of all sins
• sarvapātakanāśanam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + pātaka (प्रातिपदिक) + nāśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (माहात्म्यम्); समास: सर्वेषां पातकानां नाशनम् (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

Speaker

Sūta

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Viṣṇupadī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Brāhmaṇa-assembly (addressed as ‘brāhmaṇaśreṣṭhāḥ’)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sūta concludes the account before an assembly of brāhmaṇas, hands raised in teaching gesture; listeners sit attentive; behind, a symbolic river motif indicates Viṣṇupadī’s presence; the atmosphere is calm and resolved.

Characters & Entities

• Sūta
• Viṣṇupadī Gaṅgā
• Brāhmaṇas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Listening to and preserving tīrtha-māhātmya is itself meritorious and is praised as a means for the destruction of sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Viṣṇupadī Gaṅgā—her origin and greatness are summarized as sin-destroying.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Śravaṇa (hearing) and transmission of the māhātmya are implied as spiritually efficacious acts.