Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 57

Devanagari script

ब्रह्महत्यां महाघोरां प्रतिलोमा सरस्वती । पानावगाहनान्नृणां नाशयत्यखिलं हि सा

Transliteration

brahmahatyāṃ mahāghorāṃ pratilomā sarasvatī | pānāvagāhanānnṛṇāṃ nāśayatyakhilaṃ hi sā

Translation

‘പ്രതിലോമാ’ എന്നായി സ്തുതിക്കപ്പെടുന്ന സരസ്വതി—അവളുടെ ജലം പാനം ചെയ്യുകയും അതിൽ സ്നാനം ചെയ്യുകയും ചെയ്‌താൽ മനുഷ്യരുടെ ബ്രഹ്മഹത്യ പോലെയുള്ള മഹാഭയങ്കര പാപവും പൂർണ്ണമായി നശിപ്പിക്കുന്നു।

Word by Word

• ब्रह्महत्याम्: brahmin-slaying (sin)
• ब्रह्महत्याम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + हत्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष

• महा-घोराम्: very terrible
• महा-घोराम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + घोर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (very terrible)

• प्रतिलोमा: Pratilomā (name/epithet)
• प्रतिलोमा: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रतिलोमा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सरस्वती-विशेषण

• सरस्वती: Sarasvatī (river)
• सरस्वती: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सरस्वती (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• पान-अवगाहनात्: by/through drinking and bathing
• पान-अवगाहनात्: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पान (प्रातिपदिक) + अवगाहन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन

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

• नाशयति: destroys
• नाशयति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नाशय् (धातु; णिजन्त causative of नश्)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• अखिलम्: all (entirely)
• अखिलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अखिल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; (पातकं/दोषं implied)

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle; emphasis)

• सा: she
• सा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya narrative style within Skanda Purāṇa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa Sarasvatī (Pratilomā)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sarasvatī as a radiant river-goddess labeled ‘Pratilomā’, offering a stream into a devotee’s cupped hands for ācamana; a second devotee performs snāna; dark stain-like forms (brahmahatyā) dissolve into light.

Characters & Entities

• Sarasvatī
• Pratilomā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sincere engagement with a sacred tīrtha—here Sarasvatī—through bathing and drinking is taught as a powerful means of inner purification and release from grave wrongdoing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Sarasvatī river-tīrtha associated with Prabhāsa Kṣetra (Prabhāsakṣetra).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Pāna (drinking the sacred water) and avagāhana/snānā (immersive bathing) in the river.