Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 56

Devanagari script

तत्र सिद्धवटंनाम तीर्थं पैतामहं स्मृतम् । वटेश्वरस्य पुरतः सर्वपापक्षयंकरम्

Transliteration

tatra siddhavaṭaṃnāma tīrthaṃ paitāmahaṃ smṛtam | vaṭeśvarasya purataḥ sarvapāpakṣayaṃkaram

Translation

അവിടെ ‘സിദ്ധവടം’ എന്നൊരു തീർത്ഥമുണ്ട്; അത് ‘പൈതാമഹ’ (പിതാമഹൻ ബ്രഹ്മാവിനുള്ളത്) എന്നു സ്മരിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു. വടേശ്വരന്റെ മുൻപിൽ സ്ഥിതിചെയ്യുന്ന ഇത് സർവ്വപാപക്ഷയകരമാണ്.

Word by Word

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक) — 'there'

• siddha-vaṭam-nāma: named “Siddhavaṭa”
• siddha-vaṭam-nāma: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: siddha (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक) + vaṭa (प्रातिपदिक) + nāman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: सिद्धवट (कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष-प्राय) + नाम (नाम-शब्देन सह बहुप्रचलितः 'X-nāma'); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; 'named'

• tīrtham: a sacred ford/pilgrimage place
• tīrtham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• paitāmaham: of Pitāmaha (Brahmā), ancestral
• paitāmaham: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: paitāmaha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (belonging to Pitāmaha/Brahmā; ancestral)

• smṛtam: is known/remembered (as)
• smṛtam: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: smṛ (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे 'is called/remembered'

• vaṭeśvarasya: of Vaṭeśvara
• vaṭeśvarasya: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vaṭeśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (सम्बन्ध), एकवचन

• purataḥ: in front of
• purataḥ: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: puratas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक) — 'in front of'

• sarva-pāpa-kṣayaṃkaram: causing the destruction of all sins
• sarva-pāpa-kṣayaṃkaram: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक) + kara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: सर्वपाप (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष) + क्षयङ्कर (उपपद-तत्पुरुष: 'kṣayaṃ karoti'); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Siddhavaṭa

Type: kund

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A vast banyan named Siddhavaṭa stands beside/near a Śiva shrine of Vaṭeśvara; pilgrims bathe and worship, the air thick with sanctity, the place proclaimed ‘all-sin-destroying’.

Characters & Entities

• Siddhavaṭa-tīrtha
• Pitāmaha (Brahmā)
• Vaṭeśvara

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Prabhāsa tīrthas are presented as powerful purifiers: proximity to a consecrated site (Vaṭeśvara) and its tīrtha is said to dissolve accumulated sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Siddhavaṭa-tīrtha, located before Vaṭeśvara, and characterized as ‘Paitāmaha’ (connected with Brahmā).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit act is detailed in this verse, but the standard implied tīrtha-practice is darśana and snāna associated with sin-removal.