Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 14

Devanagari script

महासंन्यासिनं ध्यायेच्चातुर्मास्ये विशेषतः । एवं रूपमयं विष्णुं सर्वपापौघहारिणम्

Transliteration

mahāsaṃnyāsinaṃ dhyāyeccāturmāsye viśeṣataḥ | evaṃ rūpamayaṃ viṣṇuṃ sarvapāpaughahāriṇam

Translation

خصوصاً چاتُرمَاس کے زمانے میں وشنو کو مہا سنیاسی کے روپ میں دھیان کرنا چاہیے؛ اس روپ میں سمرن کیا ہوا وشنو تمام گناہوں کے سیلاب کو دور کر دیتا ہے۔

Word by Word

• महासंन्यासिनम्: the great renunciant
• महासंन्यासिनम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा + संन्यासिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; समासः: महान् संन्यासी (great renunciant)

• ध्यायेत्: should meditate upon
• ध्यायेत्: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ध्यै (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• चातुर्मास्ये: in the Cāturmāsya period
• चातुर्मास्ये: Adhikaraṇa (Temporal/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चातुर्मास्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन; काल-अधिकरण (locative of time)

• विशेषतः: especially
• विशेषतः: Adhikaraṇa (Manner/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: विशेषतः (अव्यय; विशेष-प्रातिपदिकात्)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (especially)

• एवम्: thus; in this way
• एवम्: Adhikaraṇa (Manner/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (thus/in this manner)

• रूपमयम्: embodied in such a form
• रूपमयम्: Karma (Object-qualifier/कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रूप + मय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; समासः: रूपेण मयम् (consisting of form)

• विष्णुम्: Viṣṇu
• विष्णुम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विष्णु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• सर्वपापौघहारिणम्: remover of the mass of all sins
• सर्वपापौघहारिणम्: Karma (Object-qualifier/कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व + पाप + ओघ + हारिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; समासः: सर्वेषां पापानाम् ओघं हरति इति (remover of the flood of all sins)

Speaker

Narratorial voice within Tīrthamāhātmya (deductive attribution)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A solitary Viṣṇu envisioned as a great renunciant—matted locks or ascetic simplicity, serene gaze—while a devotee meditates during the rainy-season Cāturmāsya, with subdued monsoon clouds and a tīrtha backdrop.

Characters & Entities

• Viṣṇu
• Cāturmāsya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Seasonal discipline (Cāturmāsya) combined with dhyāna is portrayed as a potent purifier that uproots accumulated wrongdoing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse praises a sacred time-observance (Cāturmāsya) more than a single location, fitting the broader tīrtha-mahātmya ethos of intensified merit.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Meditate on Viṣṇu in the ‘great renunciant’ form, particularly during Cāturmāsya, for removal of sins.