Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 48

Devanagari script

महापापानि गोविंद बहुजन्मार्जितान्यपि । सद्यो विलयमायांति वासुदेवेति कीर्तनात्

Transliteration

mahāpāpāni goviṃda bahujanmārjitānyapi | sadyo vilayamāyāṃti vāsudeveti kīrtanāt

Translation

噢 Govinda，即使累世积聚的重罪，也会因称诵“Vāsudeva”之名而立刻消融。

Word by Word

• महापापानि: great sins
• महापापानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (महानि पापानि), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• गोविंद: O Govinda
• गोविंद: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: govinda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• बहुजन्मार्जितानि: accumulated over many births
• बहुजन्मार्जितानि: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bahu (प्रातिपदिक) + janman (प्रातिपदिक) + ārjita (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (बहु-जन्म-आर्जित = acquired over many births), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन; विशेषण (qualifying महापापानि)

• अपि: even
• अपि: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle: even/also)

• सद्यः: immediately
• सद्यः: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadyaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: immediately)

• विलयम्: dissolution, destruction
• विलयम्: Gati/Karma (Goal as object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vilaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• आयान्ति: go/come to, reach
• आयान्ति: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√yā (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• वासुदेव: Vāsudeva
• वासुदेव: Karma (Object of utterance/उच्चारण-कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāsudeva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप; ‘इति’पूर्वं नाम-उच्चारण (name in quotation)

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Quotation marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरण-निपात (quotative particle)

• कीर्तनात्: from/by chanting
• कीर्तनात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kīrtana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vāsudeva-nāma (nāma-tīrtha within Kāśī teaching)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A circle of pilgrims on a Kāśī ghat chant ‘Vāsudeva’; dark smoke-like sins dissolve instantly into light; Govinda appears as a radiant four-armed form blessing them.

Characters & Entities

• Govinda
• Vāsudeva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Nāma-kīrtana is presented as a swift purifier that dissolves even long-standing karmic sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kāśī-khaṇḍa setting frames the teaching as part of Kāśī’s devotional greatness rather than a single named tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Kīrtana/japa of the divine Name ‘Vāsudeva’.