Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 15

Devanagari script

आचारः परमो धर्म आचारः परमं तपः । आचाराद्वर्धते ह्यायुराचारात्पापसंक्षयः

Transliteration

ācāraḥ paramo dharma ācāraḥ paramaṃ tapaḥ | ācārādvardhate hyāyurācārātpāpasaṃkṣayaḥ

Translation

สทาจาระคือธรรมอันสูงสุด; สทาจาระคือตบะอันสูงสุด จากสทาจาระอายุยืนยาวขึ้น และจากสทาจาระบาปย่อมเสื่อมสิ้น

Word by Word

• ācāraḥ: conduct
• ācāraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ācāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचन (Masculine; Nominative; Singular)

• paramaḥ: supreme
• paramaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचन (Masculine; Nominative; Singular)

• dharmaḥ: dharma
• dharmaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचन (Masculine; Nominative; Singular)

• ācāraḥ: conduct
• ācāraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ācāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचन (Masculine; Nominative; Singular)

• paramam: supreme
• paramam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचन (Neuter; Nom/Acc; Singular)

• tapaḥ: austerity
• tapaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tapas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचन (Neuter; Nominative; Singular)

• ācārāt: from conduct
• ācārāt: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ācāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; पञ्चमी (अपादान) विभक्ति; एकवचन (Masculine; Ablative; Singular)

• vardhate: increases
• vardhate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vṛdh (धातु)
• Form: लट्; प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचन; आत्मनेपद (Present; 3rd person; Singular; Middle)

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (emphatic particle ‘indeed’)

• āyuḥ: lifespan
• āyuḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āyus (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचन (Neuter; Nominative; Singular)

• ācārāt: from conduct
• ācārāt: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ācāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; पञ्चमी (अपादान) विभक्ति; एकवचन (Masculine; Ablative; Singular)

• pāpa-saṃkṣayaḥ: destruction of sin
• pāpa-saṃkṣayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃkṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचन (Masculine; Nominative; Singular); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (पापस्य संक्षयः)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; responding with doctrine of sadācāra)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: The inquiring sage/interlocutor

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic proclamation: ‘Ācāra is the highest dharma and highest tapas’; the teaching is presented as a moral axiom with promised fruits—longevity and sin-diminution.

Characters & Entities

• Sadācāra/Ācāra
• Dharma
• Tapas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ethical living itself is portrayed as the greatest religion and austerity, producing both worldly well-being and spiritual purification.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Implicitly Kāśī, within whose Māhātmya the teaching is delivered—showing that the ‘way’ to Kāśī’s fruit is ācāra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Not a ritual but a discipline: ācāra (right conduct) is prescribed as superior even to formal tapas.