Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 59

Devanagari script

एभिरष्टचत्वारिंशद्भिः संस्कारैः संकृतो ब्राह्मणो भवति

Transliteration

ebhiraṣṭacatvāriṃśadbhiḥ saṃskāraiḥ saṃkṛto brāhmaṇo bhavati

Translation

وبالتهذيب على الوجه اللائق بهذه السمسكارات الثماني والأربعين (saṃskāra)، يصير المرءُ برهمنًا (brāhmaṇa) حقًّا.

Word by Word

• ebhiḥ: by these
• ebhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• aṣṭa-catvāriṃśad-bhiḥ: by forty-eight
• aṣṭa-catvāriṃśad-bhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭa (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + catvāriṃśat (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्यावाचक-द्विगु, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन; संस्कारैः इति विशेषणम्

• saṃskāraiḥ: by rites/saṃskāras
• saṃskāraiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃskāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• saṃkṛtaḥ: refined/formed
• saṃkṛtaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam- (उपसर्ग) + √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय, past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मणि-भावः (having been duly formed/refined)

• brāhmaṇaḥ: a brāhmaṇa
• brāhmaṇaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• bhavati: becomes
• bhavati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

Unspecified (Revā Khaṇḍa narrator)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha milieu

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A schematic, almost iconographic scene: a teacher indicates a sequence of saṃskāras—fire-rite, tonsure, upanayana—culminating in a serene brāhmaṇa figure holding a Veda.

Characters & Entities

• Brāhmaṇa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Spiritual identity is achieved through disciplined refinement—saṃskāras and conduct, not mere birth-claim.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it is a doctrinal conclusion within the Revā Khaṇḍa setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It prescribes completion of the enumerated saṃskāras (forty-eight) as the basis of ritual-spiritual refinement.