Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 11

Devanagari script

एतत्ते कथितं तात तीर्थमाहात्म्यमुत्तमम् । दुर्लभं मर्त्यसंज्ञस्य सर्वपापक्षयंकरम्

Transliteration

etatte kathitaṃ tāta tīrthamāhātmyamuttamam | durlabhaṃ martyasaṃjñasya sarvapāpakṣayaṃkaram

Translation

اے عزیز! میں نے تمہیں اس تیرتھ کی اعلیٰ ترین مہاتمیہ سنا دی؛ یہ فانی کہلانے والوں کے لیے نایاب ہے اور تمام گناہوں کے زوال کا سبب ہے۔

Word by Word

• एतत्: this
• एतत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; अत्र कर्मरूपेण = this (as object)

• ते: to you; for you
• ते: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध) एकवचन = Genitive singular ‘of/for you’

• कथितम्: told; narrated
• कथितम्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kathita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक); √kath (धातु) + क्त
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे ‘कथितम्’ = said/told

• तात: dear one; son
• तात: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन = Vocative singular

• तीर्थमाहात्म्यम्: the greatness of the sacred ford (tīrtha)
• तीर्थमाहात्म्यम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha + māhātmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः = ‘तीर्थस्य माहात्म्यम्’

• उत्तमम्: excellent; supreme
• उत्तमम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् ‘तीर्थमाहात्म्यम्’

• दुर्लभम्: hard to obtain
• दुर्लभम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: durlabha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (एतत्/तीर्थमाहात्म्यम्)

• मर्त्यसंज्ञस्य: of one termed ‘mortal’ (a human)
• मर्त्यसंज्ञस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: martya + saṃjñā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः = ‘मर्त्य-संज्ञः’ (one called mortal) तस्य

• सर्वपापक्षयंकरम्: causing the destruction of all sins
• सर्वपापक्षयंकरम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva + pāpa + kṣaya + kara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः = ‘सर्वपापानां क्षयं करोति’

Speaker

Narrator addressing a listener (tāta)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Unspecified tīrtha within Revā Khaṇḍa context

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: tāta (addressed listener; likely a king/disciple in the frame narrative)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A teacher-sage concluding a sacred narration to a disciple/son (‘tāta’), with the tīrtha’s aura behind them—river shimmer, sanctified air, and a sense of rare access and cleansing light.

Characters & Entities

• tīrtha-māhātmya
• sarva-pāpa-kṣaya (destruction of sins)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Tīrtha-māhātmya is presented as a rare opportunity for mortals: sacred places, rightly approached, become instruments of total purification.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The chapter’s featured Revā-khaṇḍa tīrtha (unnamed in this verse), praised as supremely purifying and rare.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No new prescription; it summarizes the tīrtha’s power—especially its capacity to destroy all sins when approached through dhārmic practice.