Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 75

Devanagari script

पापपांसुमहावात्या पापद्रुमकुठारिका । पापेंधनदवाग्निश्च गंगेयं पुण्यवाहिनी

Transliteration

pāpapāṃsumahāvātyā pāpadrumakuṭhārikā | pāpeṃdhanadavāgniśca gaṃgeyaṃ puṇyavāhinī

Translation

یہ گنگا، جو پُنّیہ کی حامل ہے، گناہ کی گرد اڑانے والی زبردست آندھی ہے؛ گناہ کے درختوں کو کاٹنے والی کلہاڑی ہے؛ اور گناہ کے ایندھن کو جلا دینے والی جنگل کی آگ ہے۔

Word by Word

• pāpa-pāṃsu-mahā-vātyā: a great whirlwind of sinful dust
• pāpa-pāṃsu-mahā-vātyā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + pāṃsu (प्रातिपदिक) + mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + vātyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन; बहुपद-कर्मधारयः ('great whirlwind of sinful dust')

• pāpa-druma-kuṭhārikā: an axe to the tree of sin
• pāpa-druma-kuṭhārikā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + druma (प्रातिपदिक) + kuṭhārikā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः ('axe for the tree of sin')

• pāpa-indhana-dava-agniḥ: a forest-fire fueled by sin
• pāpa-indhana-dava-agniḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + indhana (प्रातिपदिक) + dava (प्रातिपदिक) + agni (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः ('forest-fire fed by the fuel of sin')

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक

• gaṅgā: Gaṅgā
• gaṅgā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gaṅgā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन

• iyam: this
• iyam: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• puṇya-vāhinī: merit-bearing
• puṇya-vāhinī: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: puṇya (प्रातिपदिक) + vāhinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः ('carrier of merit')

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Kāśī Gaṅgā-tīrtha)

Type: tirtha

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Interlocutor of the Kāśī discourse

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Gaṅgā as a living cosmic force: a roaring yet auspicious river-wind scattering dark ‘sin-dust’, a divine axe cleaving a forest of thorny trees labeled pāpa, and a controlled sacred wildfire consuming blackened fuel—while pilgrims bathe on ghāṭa steps under temple silhouettes.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Gaṅgā is celebrated as a potent purifier whose sanctity destroys accumulated sin and generates puṇya.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Gaṅgā itself as a supreme tīrtha—implicitly the Gaṅgā in the Kāśī region.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is named; the verse supports tīrtha-sevā such as snāna and reverent approach as means to sin-destruction.