Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 89

Devanagari script

सा तारयति पापिष्ठं यावदाभूतसंप्लवम् । इह पापक्षयं कृत्वा पश्चात्स्वर्गे महीयते

Transliteration

sā tārayati pāpiṣṭhaṃ yāvadābhūtasaṃplavam | iha pāpakṣayaṃ kṛtvā paścātsvarge mahīyate

Translation

นางช่วยฉุดรั้งแม้แต่คนบาปหนาที่สุดให้รอดพ้น ตราบจนถึงกาลแตกดับของจักรวาล เมื่อชำระบาปในโลกนี้สิ้นแล้ว นางย่อมได้รับการยกย่องในสวรรค์

Word by Word

• सा: she
• सा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन

• तारयति: saves/delivers
• तारयति: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: तॄ (धातु)
• Form: लट्; प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचन; परस्मैपद; णिच् (causative) अर्थः ‘causes to cross/save’

• पापिष्ठम्: the most sinful (man)
• पापिष्ठम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचन; तमप्-प्रत्यय (superlative) ‘most sinful’

• यावत्: as long as
• यावत्: Sambandha (Temporal limit/अवधि)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यावत् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधिवाचक (as long as/until)

• आभूतसंप्लवम्: until the great dissolution
• आभूतसंप्लवम्: Karma (Extent/कर्म-प्रवृत्ति)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आ + भूत + संप्लव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (आभूतः संप्लवः) = until the cosmic dissolution

• इह: here
• इह: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक (here/in this world)

• पापक्षयम्: destruction of sin
• पापक्षयम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप + क्षय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (पापस्य क्षयः)

• कृत्वा: having done
• कृत्वा: Kriya (Gerundial/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त; ‘having done’

• पश्चात्: afterwards
• पश्चात्: Sambandha (Temporal/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पश्चात् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक (afterwards)

• स्वर्गे: in heaven
• स्वर्गे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वर्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी; एकवचन

• महीयते: is honored
• महीयते: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मह् (धातु)
• Form: लट्; प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि/भावे ‘is honored/glorified’

Speaker

Unspecified (continuation of the same narrative voice in the Māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: King in the narrative frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic vision: the devoted wife’s act radiates light that lifts a dark, burdened soul upward; below, sin is shown as soot/black smoke dissolving; above, celestial beings honor her in svarga.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic dharma portrays certain self-sacrificial virtues as spiritually potent enough to neutralize grave sin and confer heavenly honor.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse occurs within the Vastrāpatha-kṣetra glorification in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The text highlights a wife’s extreme self-offering as a means of pāpakṣaya (sin-exhaustion) and upliftment.