Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 57

Devanagari script

ब्रह्महत्यां महाघोरां प्रतिलोमा सरस्वती । पानावगाहनान्नृणां नाशयत्यखिलं हि सा

Transliteration

brahmahatyāṃ mahāghorāṃ pratilomā sarasvatī | pānāvagāhanānnṛṇāṃ nāśayatyakhilaṃ hi sā

Translation

سَرَسوتی—جو یہاں ‘پرتِلومَا’ کے نام سے سراہي گئی ہے—اپنے جل کے پینے اور اس میں اشنان کرنے سے لوگوں کے لیے برہمن ہتیا کے نہایت ہولناک پاپ کو بھی پوری طرح مٹا دیتی ہے۔

Word by Word

• ब्रह्महत्याम्: brahmin-slaying (sin)
• ब्रह्महत्याम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + हत्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष

• महा-घोराम्: very terrible
• महा-घोराम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + घोर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (very terrible)

• प्रतिलोमा: Pratilomā (name/epithet)
• प्रतिलोमा: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रतिलोमा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सरस्वती-विशेषण

• सरस्वती: Sarasvatī (river)
• सरस्वती: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सरस्वती (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• पान-अवगाहनात्: by/through drinking and bathing
• पान-अवगाहनात्: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पान (प्रातिपदिक) + अवगाहन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन

• नृणाम्: of men
• नृणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• नाशयति: destroys
• नाशयति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नाशय् (धातु; णिजन्त causative of नश्)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• अखिलम्: all (entirely)
• अखिलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अखिल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; (पातकं/दोषं implied)

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle; emphasis)

• सा: she
• सा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya narrative style within Skanda Purāṇa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa Sarasvatī (Pratilomā)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sarasvatī as a radiant river-goddess labeled ‘Pratilomā’, offering a stream into a devotee’s cupped hands for ācamana; a second devotee performs snāna; dark stain-like forms (brahmahatyā) dissolve into light.

Characters & Entities

• Sarasvatī
• Pratilomā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sincere engagement with a sacred tīrtha—here Sarasvatī—through bathing and drinking is taught as a powerful means of inner purification and release from grave wrongdoing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Sarasvatī river-tīrtha associated with Prabhāsa Kṣetra (Prabhāsakṣetra).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Pāna (drinking the sacred water) and avagāhana/snānā (immersive bathing) in the river.