Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 68

Devanagari script

पापिनां यानि पापानि प्रसह्य क्षालितान्यहो । तच्छुद्ध्यै सेव्यते तीर्थैः प्रयागमधिकं ततः

Transliteration

pāpināṃ yāni pāpāni prasahya kṣālitānyaho | tacchuddhyai sevyate tīrthaiḥ prayāgamadhikaṃ tataḥ

Translation

Ôi! Tội lỗi của kẻ tạo tội bị gột rửa như bị cuốn trôi. Chính vì sự thanh tịnh ấy mà các tīrtha khác cũng tìm đến Prayāga; bởi vậy Prayāga cao cả hơn họ.

Word by Word

• pāpinām: of sinners
• pāpinām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• yāni: which
• yāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक (relative)

• pāpāni: sins
• pāpāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• prasahya: forcibly, with force
• prasahya: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: pra + √sah (सह्) + ल्यप् (क्त्वा-प्रत्ययभेद)
• Form: ल्यप्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund); ‘having forcibly/with effort’

• kṣālitāni: washed away, cleansed
• kṣālitāni: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √kṣāl (क्षाल्) + क्त (क्त-कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन; कर्मणि/भूत (washed away)

• aho: ah!, indeed!
• aho: Bhāva (Exclamation/भाव)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: aho (अव्यय)
• Form: विस्मयादिबोधक-अव्यय (exclamation)

• tat-śuddhyai: for that purification
• tat-śuddhyai: Sampradana (Recipient/Purpose/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + śuddhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः (तत्पुरुष); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन; ‘तस्य शुद्ध्यै’ (for its purification)

• sevyate: is resorted to, is visited
• sevyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √sev (सेव्) लट् (लट्-लकार)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive: is resorted to/served)

• tīrthaiḥ: by tīrthas; by sacred places
• tīrthaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन

• prayāgam: Prayāga
• prayāgam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prayāga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• adhikam: greater, superior
• adhikam: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: adhika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तुलनावाचक (comparative sense: more/exceeding)

• tataḥ: therefore, from that
• tataḥ: Hetu/Apādāna (Cause/Source/हेतु/अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: तस्मात्-अर्थे अव्यय (ablatival adverb: therefore/from that)

Speaker

Agastya (continued from preceding verse context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prayāga (Triveṇī Saṅgama)

Type: sangam

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Sūdharmiṇī / addressed righteous interlocutor

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At the Triveṇī Saṅgama, dark smoke-like forms of sins are swept away by a powerful current of luminous water; other tīrtha-deities arrive with offerings, seeking purification from Prayāga’s waters.

Characters & Entities

• Prayāga
• Tīrthas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The highest tīrtha is defined by its unmatched capacity to purify even the gravest moral and karmic stains.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prayāga, elevated above other pilgrimage places due to its purificatory power.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implied tīrtha-sevā—seeking purification through pilgrimage/bathing at Prayāga.