Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 26

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मघ्नः स तु विज्ञेयो न तस्मै निष्कृतिः स्मृता । पञ्चाशत्कोटिसंख्येषु नरकेष्वनुपूर्वशः

Transliteration

brahmaghnaḥ sa tu vijñeyo na tasmai niṣkṛtiḥ smṛtā | pañcāśatkoṭisaṃkhyeṣu narakeṣvanupūrvaśaḥ

Translation

اسے برہمن کا قاتل (برہمن گھنی) جانو؛ ایسے شخص کے لیے کوئی کفارہ بیان نہیں ہوا۔ وہ ترتیب وار پچاس کروڑ گنتی کے دوزخوں میں گرتا ہے۔

Word by Word

• ब्रह्मघ्नः: a Brahmin-slayer
• ब्रह्मघ्नः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahma-ghna (प्रातिपदिक; ब्रह्मन् + घ्न)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (ब्रह्मणः घ्नः = slayer of a Brahmin)

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• तु: indeed/but
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (contrast/emphasis)

• विज्ञेयः: to be known (as)
• विज्ञेयः: Karta (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi- (उपसर्ग) + √jñā (धातु) + तव्यत् (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तव्यत्-प्रत्ययान्त (gerundive), ‘to be known/should be known’

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय (negation)

• तस्मै: for him/to him
• तस्मै: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी-विभक्ति (Dative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• निष्कृतिः: expiation
• निष्कृतिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: niṣ-kṛti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• स्मृता: is declared/remembered
• स्मृता: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: smṛta (कृदन्त; √smṛ (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकृदन्त; कर्मणि-प्रयोगे विधेय (is said/remembered)

• पञ्चाशत्कोटिसंख्येषु: in (hells) numbering fifty crores
• पञ्चाशत्कोटिसंख्येषु: Adhikarana (Location/Scope/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pañcāśat-koṭi-saṃkhyā (प्रातिपदिक; पञ्चाशत् + कोटि + संख्या)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (पञ्चाशत्कोटीनां संख्या येषु)

• नरकेषु: in hells
• नरकेषु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• अनुपूर्वशः: successively/in order
• अनुपूर्वशः: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anupūrvaśas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb), क्रमवाचक

Speaker

Śiva (deduced from Devī-address: deveśi/mahādevi/varārohe in surrounding verses)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Cosmic moral geography: the offender marked as brahma-ghna, dragged by messengers toward successive hell-realms, with a counting motif suggesting innumerable narakas; Prabhāsa’s sacred shore faintly behind as contrast.

Characters & Entities

• Brāhmaṇa
• Naraka

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Brahma-hatyā (violence against a brāhmaṇa) is portrayed as an extreme adharma with dreadful, long-lasting consequences.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra is the setting; this teaching supports the kṣetra’s dharmic ethos by warning against grave sins.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite is prescribed here; rather, it states that expiation is not taught for this crime in this passage.