Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 10

Devanagari script

पापिनो येषु पात्यंते ताञ्छृणुष्व महामते । कोटयः पंचपंचाशद्राजानश्चैकविंशति

Transliteration

pāpino yeṣu pātyaṃte tāñchṛṇuṣva mahāmate | koṭayaḥ paṃcapaṃcāśadrājānaścaikaviṃśati

Translation

大慧者啊，请听我说：罪人被抛堕之诸地狱，其数为五十五俱胝，并有二十一为其主分、如王统摄。

Word by Word

• पापिनः: sinners
• पापिनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पापिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; विशेष्य-सम्बन्धः (those who are sinful)

• येषु: in which
• येषु: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध/अधिकरण (in which)

• पात्यन्ते: are cast (down)
• पात्यन्ते: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (are made to fall/are cast)

• तान्: those (hells)
• तान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), बहुवचन; निर्देश्य (those)

• शृणुष्व: listen
• शृणुष्व: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद (hear!)

• महामते: O great-minded one
• महामते: Sambodhana (Vocative/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महामति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन; महा + मति (great-minded)

• कोटयः: crores
• कोटयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कोटि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; संख्या/परिमाण (crores)

• पञ्चपञ्चाशत्: fifty-five
• पञ्चपञ्चाशत्: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पञ्च + पञ्चाशत् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्या; समाहार-द्वन्द्व (55); विशेषण (qualifying koṭayaḥ)

• राजानः: kings
• राजानः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• एकविंशति: twenty-one
• एकविंशति: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक + विंशति (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्या; द्विगु-समास (21); विशेषण (qualifying rājanāḥ)

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) [deduced]

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: a ‘mahāmati’ interlocutor (unnamed in the verse)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A solemn narrator enumerates the vast divisions of hells—countless pits and realms below, overseen by ‘kings’ (chief divisions), evoking an ordered but terrifying moral universe.

Characters & Entities

• Pāpinaḥ (sinners)
• Narakas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Actions have consequences—this verse introduces the doctrine of karmic retribution through the many narakas described in Purāṇic dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is glorified in this verse; it transitions from Pātāla’s sacred liṅga to the lower realms of punishment.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the emphasis is on listening to the teaching (śravaṇa) about dharma and its consequences.