Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 162

Devanagari script

य एष त्वद्गृहे वोढा ह्यतिभारधुरंधरः । अनेन मित्रहननं पापं विश्वासघातनम्

Transliteration

ya eṣa tvadgṛhe voḍhā hyatibhāradhuraṃdharaḥ | anena mitrahananaṃ pāpaṃ viśvāsaghātanam

Translation

یہی تمہارے گھر کا باربردار جانور، جو حد سے زیادہ بوجھ اٹھانے میں ماہر ہے، پچھلے جنم میں دوست کے قتل کا گناہ کر چکا ہے—یہ اعتماد شکنی کا پاپ ہے۔

Word by Word

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• eṣaḥ: this (man)
• eṣaḥ: Apposition (Co-referent/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); सर्वनाम (demonstrative)

• tvad-gṛhe: in your house
• tvad-gṛhe: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + gṛha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular); तत्पुरुषः (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध: 'in your house')

• voḍhā: bearer/carrier
• voḍhā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vah (धातु) → voḍhṛ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); कर्तरि-तृच्/तृन्-प्रत्ययान्त (agent noun: 'carrier/bearer')

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha/Emphasis (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Indeclinable), निपात (emphasis)

• ati-bhāra-dhuraṃdharaḥ: one who bears extremely heavy burdens
• ati-bhāra-dhuraṃdharaḥ: Karta-predicative (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ati (अव्यय) + bhāra (प्रातिपदिक) + dhuraṃdhara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); उपपद-तत्पुरुष/बहुपद-समासः (ati- + bhāra- + dhuraṃdhara: 'one who bears very heavy burdens')

• anena: by him/with this
• anena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine/Neuter), तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन (Singular); सर्वनाम

• mitra-hananaṃ: killing of a friend
• mitra-hananaṃ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mitra (प्रातिपदिक) + hanana (प्रातिपदिक; √han धातु)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); तत्पुरुषः (object-determinative: 'killing of a friend')

• pāpaṃ: sinful
• pāpaṃ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); विशेषण (qualifying mitra-hananaṃ)

• viśvāsa-ghātanam: betrayal of trust
• viśvāsa-ghātanam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśvāsa (प्रातिपदिक) + ghātana (प्रातिपदिक; √han/√ghāt धात्वर्थ)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); तत्पुरुषः ('betrayal/destruction of trust')

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya (addressing a king, ‘rājan’ contextually)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Rājan

Visual Art Cues

Scene: In a royal courtyard, a strong load-bearing animal stands tethered; the narrator reveals its hidden past: a shadow-scene overlays—two friends, one betrayed—contrasting present servitude with past treachery.

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• rājan (king)
• tīrtha (implied context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Betrayal and violence against a friend are grave sins that bind the soul; karma follows even across births.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is embedded in the Revā Khaṇḍa’s tīrtha-māhātmya setting (a sacred ford associated with the Revā/Narmadā tradition), though the specific tīrtha name is not stated in this single shloka.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is stated here; the verse introduces the karmic background that later connects to tīrtha-based purification.