Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 30

Devanagari script

उपपातकमध्यस्तं महापातकतां व्रजेत्

Transliteration

upapātakamadhyastaṃ mahāpātakatāṃ vrajet

Translation

Quem permanece preso a um pecado menor (upapātaka) pode, por isso, cair no estado de grande pecado (mahāpātaka).

Word by Word

• उपपातक: minor sin
• उपपातक: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपपातक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; समासपूर्वपद-रूपेण

• अध्यस्तम्: resting upon/associated with
• अध्यस्तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधि-स्था (धातु) → अध्यस्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त/PPP), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; ‘उपपातकमध्यस्तम्’ इति समासे उत्तरपद

• महापातकताम्: the state of a great sin
• महापातकताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महापातक (प्रातिपदिक) + ता (तद्धित)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; गत्यर्थक्रियायाः कर्म

• व्रजेत्: would go/attain
• व्रजेत्: Kriya (Predicate action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्रज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) to the sages (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kedāra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A moral allegory: a traveler at a forked path—one clean and luminous leading to a Śiva shrine, another darkening as small missteps accumulate into a precipice labeled mahāpātaka.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Unchecked faults grow; neglecting reform can transform lesser wrongdoing into grave spiritual ruin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is named; the verse gives a general dharma warning within the Kedāra narrative frame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, one should not remain in sin and should undertake correction/expiation; no specific rite is detailed here.