Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 93

Devanagari script

एतत्पवित्रमायुष्यं सर्व पातकनाशनम् । स्त्रीतीर्थसंभवं नॄणां माहात्म्यं यन्मयोदितम्

Transliteration

etatpavitramāyuṣyaṃ sarva pātakanāśanam | strītīrthasaṃbhavaṃ nṝṇāṃ māhātmyaṃ yanmayoditam

Translation

ഞാൻ പ്രസ്താവിച്ച ഈ മഹാത്മ്യം—പവിത്രവും ആയുഷ്യവർദ്ധകവും സർവ്വപാപനാശകവും; ‘സ്ത്രീതീർത്ഥ’ത്തിൽ നിന്നുദ്ഭവിച്ചതായി—മനുഷ്യരുടെ ഹിതാർത്ഥം പ്രഖ്യാപിതം।

Word by Word

• etat: this
• etat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• pavitram: pure, purifying
• pavitram: Karta (Subject-Qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pavitra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• āyuṣyam: life-giving
• āyuṣyam: Karta (Subject-Qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: āyuṣya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण: 'life-promoting'

• sarva: of all
• sarva: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन (understood with pātakānām); विशेषण

• pātaka-nāśanam: destroyer of sins
• pātaka-nāśanam: Karta (Subject-Qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pātaka (प्रातिपदिक) + nāśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: 'destroyer of sins'

• strī-tīrtha-saṃbhavam: originating from the women’s tīrtha
• strī-tīrtha-saṃbhavam: Karta (Subject-Qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: strī (प्रातिपदिक) + tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (multi-member): 'arisen from a women's tīrtha'

• nṝṇām: of men
• nṝṇām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• māhātmyam: the greatness (account)
• māhātmyam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māhātmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• yat: which
• yat: Sambandha (Relative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom/Acc), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Kartr̥ (Agent in passive/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• uditam: spoken
• uditam: Karta (Subject-Qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ud-√i (धातु) / udita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त: 'said/uttered' (agreeing with māhātmyam)

Speaker

Sūta

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Śarmiṣṭhātīrtha (arising from ‘strī-tīrtha’)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Dvija-sattamāḥ / sages

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Skanda (or the narrator-sage) concludes the discourse before attentive brāhmaṇas; behind them, a symbolic river/ghat indicates the ‘women’s tīrtha’ origin; the atmosphere is calm and instructive.

Characters & Entities

• Śarmiṣṭhātīrtha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Hearing and preserving tīrtha-māhātmya is itself a dharmic act that transmits purification and well-being.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The tīrtha described as a strī-tīrtha, identified in this chapter as Śarmiṣṭhātīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicit prescription to listen to/recite the māhātmya as a purifying practice.