Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

वृत्रं निहत्य वृत्रारिर्ब्रह्महत्यामवाप्तवान् । अनुतप्तोथ पप्रच्छ प्रायश्चित्तं पुरोहितम्

Transliteration

vṛtraṃ nihatya vṛtrārirbrahmahatyāmavāptavān | anutaptotha papraccha prāyaścittaṃ purohitam

Translation

ဝෘတြကို သတ်ပြီးနောက် ဝෘတြာရီ (အိန္ဒြာ) သည် ဘြဟ္မဟတ္ယာ အပြစ်ကို ခံယူရသည်။ နောင်တဖြင့် ပူလောင်လျက် ထို့နောက် ပုရောဟိတ်ထံ၌ ပရాయශ්চিত္တ (အပြစ်ဖြေ) နည်းလမ်းကို မေးမြန်း하였다။

Word by Word

• वृत्रम्: Vṛtra
• वृत्रम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

• निहत्य: having slain
• निहत्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि + हन् (धातु) + त्वा (क्त्वा-प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund), पूर्वकाल (having slain)

• वृत्रारिः: the foe of Vṛtra (Indra)
• वृत्रारिः: Kartr (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृत्र + अरि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष—‘वृत्रस्य अरिः’

• ब्रह्महत्याम्: the sin of brahma-hatya
• ब्रह्महत्याम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् + हत्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष—‘ब्रह्मणः हत्या’ (brahmin-slaying sin)

• अवाप्तवान्: incurred / obtained
• अवाप्तवान्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अव + आप् (धातु) + क्तवत् (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्तवत्-कृदन्त (past active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; ‘having obtained/incurred’

• अनुतप्तः: repentant
• अनुतप्तः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनु + तप् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past participle used adjectivally), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; ‘repentant/afflicted’

• अथ: then
• अथ: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनुक्रम/आरम्भ (then/now)

• पप्रच्छ: asked
• पप्रच्छ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + पृच्छ् (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (perfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• प्रायश्चित्तम्: expiation
• प्रायश्चित्तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रायश्चित्त (प्रायः + चित्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; समासार्थः—‘प्रायः (दोष) चित्तम्’ इति (expiation)

• पुरोहितम्: the priest
• पुरोहितम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरोहित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Agastya

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Indra, still bearing the aura of battle, stands troubled and downcast before his priest (Bṛhaspati implied), hands lowered in shame; a shadowy personification of brahmahatyā clings behind him; the scene foreshadows a journey toward a purifying tīrtha.

Characters & Entities

• Vṛtra
• Indra (Vṛtrāri)
• Purohita

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even mighty beings must seek dharmic atonement; remorse and guidance from a priest/teacher lead toward purification.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse sets up the Dharmatīrtha-māhātmya narrative, preparing the context for a tīrtha-linked expiation.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It introduces prāyaścitta (expiation) as necessary after grave sin; the specific rite is to be explained in subsequent verses.