Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 14

Devanagari script

पूर्वे वयसि पापानि कृत्वा पुष्टानि मानवः । अहोरात्रोषितो भूत्वा शुक्लतीर्थे व्यपोहति

Transliteration

pūrve vayasi pāpāni kṛtvā puṣṭāni mānavaḥ | ahorātroṣito bhūtvā śuklatīrthe vyapohati

Translation

पूर्ववयात पापे करून ती वाढविणारा मनुष्य शुक्लतीर्थी अहोरात्र निवास केल्याने ती पापे दूर करतो।

Word by Word

• पूर्वे: in the earlier
• पूर्वे: Adhikarana (Location/Time setting/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (अधिकरण/Locative), एकवचन; 'वयसि' इति विशेषण

• वयसि: in youth, at an age
• वयसि: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वयस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (अधिकरण/Locative), एकवचन

• पापानि: sins
• पापानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म/Object), बहुवचन

• कृत्वा: having done
• कृत्वा: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कृ (धातु) → कृत्वा (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (absolutive/gerund): 'having done'

• पुष्टानि: nourished, strengthened
• पुष्टानि: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पुष् (धातु) → पुष्ट (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; 'पापानि' इति विशेषण

• मानवः: a man
• मानवः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (कर्ता), एकवचन

• अहोरात्रोषितः: having stayed for a day and night
• अहोरात्रोषितः: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अहोरात्र (प्रातिपदिक) + उषित (कृदन्त)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (अहोरात्रे उषितः/अहोरात्रम् उषितः); भूतकृदन्त (PPP of वस्/उष् 'to dwell/spend'); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; 'मानवः' इति विशेषण

• भूत्वा: having become
• भूत्वा: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: भू (धातु) → भूत्वा (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (absolutive): 'having become'

• शुक्लतीर्थे: at Śukla-tīrtha
• शुक्लतीर्थे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शुक्लतीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय (शुक्लं तीर्थम्); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (अधिकरण), एकवचन

• व्यपोहति: removes, dispels
• व्यपोहति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अप-उह्/ऊह् (धातु) with वि-उपसर्ग → व्यपोहति
• Form: लट्-लकार (वर्तमान), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; उपसर्ग: वि- + अप-

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Skanda Purāṇa narrative voice within Revā-khaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Śuklatīrtha

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A weary pilgrim arrives at a luminous white-sand riverbank; day turns to night as he keeps vigil by a small lamp, then bathes at dawn—symbolizing the ‘ahorātra’ that burns away old sins.

Characters & Entities

• Śukla-tīrtha
• Ahorātra (day-and-night stay)
• Pāpa (sin)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sustained contact with holiness—staying with devotion at a tīrtha—can undo even long-habituated wrongdoing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Śukla-tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Ahorātra-uṣṭi (staying for a full day and night) at Śukla-tīrtha, alongside the implied tīrtha practices such as snāna.