Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 28

Devanagari script

धौतपापे तु या नारी कुरुते प्राणसंक्षयम् । तत्क्षणादेव सा पार्थ पुरुषत्वमवाप्नुयात्

Transliteration

dhautapāpe tu yā nārī kurute prāṇasaṃkṣayam | tatkṣaṇādeva sā pārtha puruṣatvamavāpnuyāt

Translation

اے پُرتھا کے فرزند! اگر دھوتاپاپ کے تیرتھ میں کوئی عورت جان دے دے تو اسی لمحے وہ مردانہ مرتبہ حاصل کرتی ہے، ایسا کہا گیا ہے۔

Word by Word

• धौतपापे: in/at the ‘sin-cleansing’ (tīrtha/place)
• धौतपापे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धौतपाप (प्रातिपदिक; धौत + पाप)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरण (locative)

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), विरोध/विशेषार्थक

• या: who (a woman)
• या: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सम्बन्धबोधक (relative pronoun)

• नारी: woman
• नारी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नारी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• कुरुते: does/undertakes
• कुरुते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/वर्तमान), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• प्राणसंक्षयम्: loss of life; death
• प्राणसंक्षयम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणसंक्षय (प्रातिपदिक; प्राण + संक्षय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म (object)

• तत्क्षणात्: from that very moment
• तत्क्षणात्: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तत्क्षण (प्रातिपदिक; तत् + क्षण)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन; अपादान (ablative)

• एव: indeed/just
• एव: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• सा: she
• सा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; निर्देश (demonstrative)

• पार्थ: O Pārtha
• पार्थ: Sambodhana (Vocative/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• पुरुषत्वम्: manhood; male state
• पुरुषत्वम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुषत्व (प्रातिपदिक; पुरुष + त्व)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म (object)

• अवाप्नुयात्: would attain
• अवाप्नुयात्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अव-आप् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative/सम्भावना), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

Speaker

Unspecified narrator addressing a Kṣatriya listener (vocative: Pārtha)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dhautapāpa

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pārtha (Arjuna) is directly addressed; also ‘nṛpa’/kingly addressee appears in adjacent verses, indicating a royal listener frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sacred riverbank tīrtha named Dhautapāpa: a woman at the threshold of death, attended by subtle divine attendants; the tīrtha’s purifying radiance rises like a white-gold aura, signifying ‘washed sin’ and immediate transformation of destiny.

Characters & Entities

• Dhautapāpa Tīrtha
• Revā (Narmadā)
• Pārtha (epithet)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The verse uses striking phalaśruti language to stress the tīrtha’s exceptional power to transform one’s post-mortem condition.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dhautapāpa Tīrtha in the Revā Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a statement of result (phalaśruti) connected with dying at the tīrtha.