Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 23

Devanagari script

यानि कानि च पापानि ब्रह्महत्या दिकानि च । ज्ञातिद्रोहजपापस्य कलां नार्हंति षोडशीम्

Transliteration

yāni kāni ca pāpāni brahmahatyā dikāni ca | jñātidrohajapāpasya kalāṃ nārhaṃti ṣoḍaśīm

Translation

ဘရဟ္မဏကို သတ်ခြင်းစသည့် အပြစ်အကုန်လုံးသည်ပင် မိမိ၏ ဆွေမျိုးကို သစ္စာဖောက်ခြင်းမှ ဖြစ်သော အပြစ်၏ ဆယ့်ခြောက်ပုံတစ်ပုံတောင် မမီကြ။

Word by Word

• yāni: which (things)
• yāni: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); relative pronoun (यत्-शब्द)

• kāni: any/whatever
• kāni: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); interrogative/indefinite used with yāni

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय)

• pāpāni: sins
• pāpāni: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)

• brahmahatyā: Brahmin-slaying (the sin of killing a Brahmin)
• brahmahatyā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahma-hatyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: brahmaṇaḥ hatyā

• ādikāni: and the like
• ādikāni: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); adjective qualifying pāpāni (ādi = etc., beginning with)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय)

• jñāti-droha-ja-pāpasya: of the sin arising from betraying kinsmen
• jñāti-droha-ja-pāpasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jñāti (प्रातिपदिक) + droha (प्रातिपदिक) + ja (कृत्-प्रत्ययान्त, 'born of') + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular (एकवचन); बहुपद-तत्पुरुष: jñātīnāṃ drohaḥ → jñātidrohaḥ; tasmāt jātaṃ pāpaṃ → jñātidrohaja-pāpa

• kalām: a part/fraction
• kalām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kalā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: Negation particle (निषेधक अव्यय)

• arhanti: are worthy/deserve
• arhanti: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: arh (धातु)
• Form: Present tense (लट्), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन)

• ṣoḍaśīm: sixteenth
• ṣoḍaśīm: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣoḍaśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); ordinal adjective qualifying kalām

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages at Naimisharanya, within the Yuddha narrative)

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pasha

Shiva Form: Mahadeva

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in the Shiva Purana?

It teaches that inner moral rupture—betraying those bound to us by duty and trust—creates a heavier karmic stain than even notorious external sins, because it violates dharma at its relational root and hardens the heart against grace.

How does this verse relate to the worship of the Linga or Saguna Shiva?

Linga-worship in the Shiva Purana is not merely ritual; it presupposes dharmic conduct. Betrayal of kin is portrayed as a grave obstruction to receiving Shiva’s anugraha (grace), so devotion must be supported by ethical integrity.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

A practical takeaway is repentance with sincere resolve, followed by steady japa of Shiva’s mantra (especially the Panchakshara, “Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and disciplined conduct to rebuild trust and dharma.