Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 38

Devanagari script

प्रायश्चित्तसहस्रं वै गणयामो न किंचन । रुद्रजाप्याक्षराण्येव सोढुं बत न शक्नुमः

Transliteration

prāyaścittasahasraṃ vai gaṇayāmo na kiṃcana | rudrajāpyākṣarāṇyeva soḍhuṃ bata na śaknumaḥ

Translation

ကျွန်ုပ်တို့သည် ပရాయశ္စိတ္တ တစ်ထောင်တစ်သောင်းကိုပင် အရေးမထားပါ။ သို့သော် ရုဒြ-ဇပ၏ အက္ခရာများကိုသာ—အို!—ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ မခံနိုင်ပါ။

Word by Word

• प्रायश्चित्त-सहस्रम्: a thousand expiations
• प्रायश्चित्त-सहस्रम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रायश्चित्त (प्रातिपदिक) + सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; समासः—प्रायश्चित्तसहस्रम् = प्रायश्चित्तानां सहस्रम् (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: निपातः (emphatic particle)

• गणयामः: we count
• गणयामः: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गणय् (धातु; गणयति)
• Form: लट् (वर्त्तमान), उत्तमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्ययम्

• किंचन: anything
• किंचन: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किंचन (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; ‘किञ्चन’ = anything

• रुद्र-जाप्य-अक्षराणि: the syllables of the Rudra-japa
• रुद्र-जाप्य-अक्षराणि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक) + जाप्य (प्रातिपदिक) + अक्षर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), बहुवचन; समासः—रुद्रजाप्याक्षराणि = रुद्रस्य जाप्यस्य अक्षराणि (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष-श्रृङ्खला)

• एव: only; indeed
• एव: Sambandha (Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक-अव्ययम्

• सोढुम्: to endure
• सोढुम्: Prayojana (Infinitive complement)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सह् (धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त infinitive; ‘सोढुम्’ (to endure)

• बत: alas; indeed
• बत: Sambandha (Exclamation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: बत (अव्यय)
• Form: विस्मय/खेदार्थक-अव्ययम् (exclamatory particle)

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्ययम्

• शक्नुमः: we are able
• शक्नुमः: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: शक् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्त्तमान), उत्तमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

Pātakanāyakāḥ (speaking to Yama)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A visual metaphor: stacks of ‘prāyaścitta’ ledgers dismissed as trivial, while glowing syllables of Rudra-japa appear as blazing letters that force dark beings to recoil.

Characters & Entities

• Prāyaścitta
• Rudra-jāpya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Mantra-devotion to Rudra is exalted as more transformative than routine expiations, striking at sin’s root.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha; the verse glorifies the mantra itself.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Rudra-japa (repetition/recitation), highlighted as exceptionally potent compared to standard prāyaścittas.