Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 180

Devanagari script

जन्मांतर सहस्रेषु यत्पापं सम्यगर्जितम् । गंगानामसहस्रस्य जपनात्तत्क्षयं व्रजेत्

Transliteration

janmāṃtara sahasreṣu yatpāpaṃ samyagarjitam | gaṃgānāmasahasrasya japanāttatkṣayaṃ vrajet

Translation

ہزاروں جنموں میں جو گناہ حقیقتاً جمع ہوا ہو، گنگا کے ہزار ناموں کا جپ کرنے سے وہ سب فنا اور زائل ہو جاتا ہے۔

Word by Word

• janma-antara: (in) other births
• janma-antara: Adhikaraṇa (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janman (प्रातिपदिक) + antara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; (सहस्रेषु इति) विशेष्यभावेन समासपूर्वपदम्; here used as qualifier ‘other births’

• sahasreṣu: in thousands
• sahasreṣu: Adhikaraṇa (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; अधिकरण; Locative plural

• yat: whatever
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम; ‘whatever/that which’

• pāpam: sin
• pāpam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; (यत् इति) विशेष्य; Accusative singular as object of ‘arjitam’ (earned)

• samyak: fully
• samyak: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: samyak (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषणम्; adverb ‘properly/fully’

• arjitam: acquired
• arjitam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √arj (धातु) + kta (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; (पापम् इति) विशेषणम्; past passive participle ‘earned’

• gaṃgā-nāma-sahasrasya: of the thousand names of Gaṅgā
• gaṃgā-nāma-sahasrasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gaṃgā (प्रातिपदिक) + nāman (प्रातिपदिक) + sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्ध (genitive)

• japanāt: by recitation
• japanāt: Hetu/Apadana (Cause/Source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: japana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; हेत्वर्थे अपादान; Ablative singular ‘by/from the act of reciting’

• tat: that (sin)
• tat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; (क्षयम् इति) विशेषणम्; ‘that’

• kṣayam: destruction
• kṣayam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्म; Accusative singular

• vrajet: would go to / would attain
• vrajet: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vraj (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (लिङ्-लकार), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; Optative, 3rd sg.

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Jāhnavī)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A sage (muni)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A scroll-like depiction of Gaṅgā as a radiant goddess emerging from flowing waters, surrounded by a halo of a thousand small name-glyphs dissolving dark karmic smoke rising from a kneeling devotee.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotional remembrance of Gaṅgā through her names is presented as a supreme purifier beyond the burden of many lifetimes.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gaṅgā in the Kāśī milieu—implying the Gaṅgā ghāṭas and sacred river-presence central to Kāśīkhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Japa of the Gaṅgā-nāma-sahasra (chanting the thousand names of Gaṅgā).