Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

एतद्वः सर्वमाख्यातं धर्मराजसमुद्भवम् । आख्यानं यदहं पृष्टः सर्वपातकनाशनम्

Transliteration

etadvaḥ sarvamākhyātaṃ dharmarājasamudbhavam | ākhyānaṃ yadahaṃ pṛṣṭaḥ sarvapātakanāśanam

Translation

Assim vos narrei por completo este relato nascido da manifestação de Dharmarāja — a narrativa sobre a qual fui interrogado — que destrói todos os pecados.

Word by Word

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; अत्र कर्मरूपेण (object of ākhyātam)

• vaḥ: to you (all)
• vaḥ: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी/चतुर्थी (6th/4th), बहुवचन; enclitic; ‘of you / to you’ (here: dative ‘to you’)

• sarvam: all, entirely
• sarvam: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying etat)

• ākhyātam: has been narrated
• ākhyātam: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√khyā (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘told/related’ (finite sense)

• dharmarājasamudbhavam: arising from Dharmarāja
• dharmarājasamudbhavam: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dharmarāja (प्रातिपदिक) + samudbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः ‘धर्मराजस्य समुद्भवम्’ (arising from Dharmarāja), विशेषणम् (qualifying etat/ākhyānam implied)

• ākhyānam: the narrative
• ākhyānam: Karma (Apposition/object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ākhyāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; विषय/कर्म (appositional to etat)

• yat: which
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative pronoun) referring to ākhyānam

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• pṛṣṭaḥ: was asked
• pṛṣṭaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √prach (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; ‘asked’ (i.e., ‘I was asked’)

• sarvapātakanāśanam: destroying all sins
• sarvapātakanāśanam: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + pātaka (प्रातिपदिक) + nāśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; बहुपद-षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः ‘सर्वेषां पातकानां नाशनम्’ (destroyer of all sins), विशेषणम् (qualifying ākhyānam/etat)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual; closing statement of the episode)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage-narrator concludes the account before attentive listeners; the atmosphere is sanctified—listeners appear inwardly cleansed, with a subtle aura or falling flower-petals indicating phalaśruti.

Characters & Entities

• Dharmarāja
• pātaka (sin)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śravaṇa (devout listening) to dharmic sacred history is itself purifying and is praised as a remover of sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra setting is implicitly glorified by declaring the narrative’s sin-destroying merit within its māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The implied practice is listening/recitation of the ākhyāna (kathā-śravaṇa/pāṭha) as a purificatory act.