Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 785

Devanagari script

तस्योद्देशेन यो दद्याद्धेनुं श्रद्धासमन्वितः । न तस्यान्वयजातोऽपि व्याधिना परिगृह्यते

Transliteration

tasyoddeśena yo dadyāddhenuṃ śraddhāsamanvitaḥ | na tasyānvayajāto'pi vyādhinā parigṛhyate

Translation

مَن تَصَدَّقَ ببقرةٍ باسمه، مقرونًا بالإيمان (ابتغاءَ ذلك المقدّس)، فإنّ حتى من وُلِدَ في سلالته لا تَستولي عليه العِلّة.

Word by Word

• tasya: of that (tīrtha/deity)
• tasya: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Genitive ‘of that/of him’

• uddeśena: by (his) designation/intention
• uddeśena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: uddeśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Instrumental ‘by the designation/intention (in his name)’

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; relative pronoun ‘who’

• dadyāt: should give
• dadyāt: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dā (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; ‘should give’

• dhenum: a cow
• dhenum: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhenu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Accusative singular

• śraddhā-samanvitaḥ: endowed with faith
• śraddhā-samanvitaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier of subject/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śraddhā (प्रातिपदिक) + samanvita (कृदन्त, क्त; सम्+अन्वि/अन्वि)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘śraddhayā samanvitaḥ’ (endowed with faith)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation)

• tasya: of him
• tasya: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Genitive ‘of him/of that person’

• anvaya-jātaḥ: a descendant
• anvaya-jātaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anvaya (प्रातिपदिक) + jāta (कृदन्त, क्त; jan धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘anvaye jātaḥ’ (born in the lineage/descendant)

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle) ‘even/also’

• vyādhinā: by disease
• vyādhinā: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vyādhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Instrumental ‘by disease’

• parigṛhyate: is seized/afflicted
• parigṛhyate: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari-grah (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (वर्तमान/Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive sense): ‘is seized/afflicted’

Speaker

Narratorial voice (Purāṇic narrator describing dāna-phala within the māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ratnāditya/Ravi tīrtha (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis/śaunaka-ādi (implied traditional frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee, hands joined, offers a decorated cow with calf to a brāhmaṇa near a sun-shrine/tīrtha; attendants hold water-pot and saṅkalpa leaves; the background suggests a Gujarati sacred landscape.

Characters & Entities

• Dāna (cow-gift)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Faith-filled charity offered to a sacred cause generates protective merit that extends beyond the donor to the family line.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse belongs to the Ratnāditya/Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya stream within Nāgarakhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Go-dāna (donation of a cow) performed with śraddhā, dedicated in the name/for the sake of the revered sacred presence.