Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 64

Devanagari script

यथायथा प्रकाशेत पापं जन्मांतरार्जितम् । तथातथा व्रजेन्नाशं तस्य कायादशेषतः

Transliteration

yathāyathā prakāśeta pāpaṃ janmāṃtarārjitam | tathātathā vrajennāśaṃ tasya kāyādaśeṣataḥ

Translation

ആ ദീപം എത്ര എത്രയായി പ്രകാശിക്കുന്നുവോ, അത്ര അത്രയായി ജന്മാന്തരങ്ങളിൽ സമ്പാദിച്ച പാപം വെളിവായി, അതേ അളവിൽ നശിച്ച് അവന്റെ ദേഹത്തിൽ നിന്ന് പൂർണ്ണമായി നീങ്ങുന്നു.

Word by Word

• yathā-yathā: in whatever way / as (it)
• yathā-yathā: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: पुनरुक्त-अव्ययम् (correlative adverb: ‘as…so…’, repeated for emphasis)

• prakāśeta: should shine forth / become manifest
• prakāśeta: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-kāś (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुषः (3rd person), एकवचनम्; आत्मनेपदम्

• pāpam: sin
• pāpam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्तिः (Nom./Acc.), एकवचनम्; अत्र कर्मरूपेण (as object)

• janma-antara-arjitam: acquired in another birth
• janma-antara-arjitam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: janman (प्रातिपदिक) + antara (प्रातिपदिक) + arjita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √arj)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः (2nd/Accusative), एकवचनम्; कृदन्त-विशेषणम् (past passive participle ‘arjita’); समासः: जन्मान्तर- (सप्तमी/षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषार्थः: ‘in/through another birth’)

• tathā-tathā: in that same way / accordingly
• tathā-tathā: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: पुनरुक्त-अव्ययम् (correlative adverb: ‘so…so…’)

• vrajet: should go / should proceed
• vrajet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vraj (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुषः (3rd person), एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्

• nāśam: to destruction
• nāśam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः (2nd/Accusative), एकवचनम्

• tasya: of it / of that (sin)
• tasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्गे, षष्ठी-विभक्तिः (6th/Genitive), एकवचनम्

• kāyāt: from the body
• kāyāt: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, पञ्चमी-विभक्तिः (5th/Ablative), एकवचनम्

• aśeṣataḥ: entirely
• aśeṣataḥ: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: aśeṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + tas (तसिल्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: तसिलन्त-अव्ययम् (adverb: ‘completely/without remainder’)

Speaker

Narrator/Ṛṣi addressing the King (contextual speaker within Arbuda Khaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hṛṣīkeśa

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: nṛpa (king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A bright lamp before Hṛṣīkeśa; from the flame, a visual metaphor of dark smoke dissolving—representing sins from past births leaving the devotee’s body; the devotee stands with folded hands, bathed in light.

Characters & Entities

• Kārttika
• Hṛṣīkeśa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Light offered in devotion symbolizes and effects inner purification—past-life sins are said to be burned away proportionate to the lamp’s radiance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Hṛṣīkeśa worship setting implied by the preceding lamp-offering instruction.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Continuation of the dīpa-offering rite: the shining lamp is linked to the destruction of accumulated pāpa.