Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 48

Devanagari script

महापापानि गोविंद बहुजन्मार्जितान्यपि । सद्यो विलयमायांति वासुदेवेति कीर्तनात्

Transliteration

mahāpāpāni goviṃda bahujanmārjitānyapi | sadyo vilayamāyāṃti vāsudeveti kīrtanāt

Translation

اے گووند! بے شمار جنموں میں جمع ہونے والے بڑے سے بڑے گناہ بھی ‘واسودیو’ نام کے کیرتن سے فوراً پگھل کر مٹ جاتے ہیں۔

Word by Word

• महापापानि: great sins
• महापापानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (महानि पापानि), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• गोविंद: O Govinda
• गोविंद: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: govinda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• बहुजन्मार्जितानि: accumulated over many births
• बहुजन्मार्जितानि: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bahu (प्रातिपदिक) + janman (प्रातिपदिक) + ārjita (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (बहु-जन्म-आर्जित = acquired over many births), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन; विशेषण (qualifying महापापानि)

• अपि: even
• अपि: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle: even/also)

• सद्यः: immediately
• सद्यः: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadyaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: immediately)

• विलयम्: dissolution, destruction
• विलयम्: Gati/Karma (Goal as object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vilaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• आयान्ति: go/come to, reach
• आयान्ति: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√yā (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• वासुदेव: Vāsudeva
• वासुदेव: Karma (Object of utterance/उच्चारण-कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāsudeva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप; ‘इति’पूर्वं नाम-उच्चारण (name in quotation)

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Quotation marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरण-निपात (quotative particle)

• कीर्तनात्: from/by chanting
• कीर्तनात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kīrtana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vāsudeva-nāma (nāma-tīrtha within Kāśī teaching)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A circle of pilgrims on a Kāśī ghat chant ‘Vāsudeva’; dark smoke-like sins dissolve instantly into light; Govinda appears as a radiant four-armed form blessing them.

Characters & Entities

• Govinda
• Vāsudeva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Nāma-kīrtana is presented as a swift purifier that dissolves even long-standing karmic sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kāśī-khaṇḍa setting frames the teaching as part of Kāśī’s devotional greatness rather than a single named tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Kīrtana/japa of the divine Name ‘Vāsudeva’.