Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 53

Devanagari script

मन्वादि पठतां शास्त्रं यत्फलं हि द्विजन्मनः । अधिकं फलमाप्नोति कुर्वाणो जागरं हरेः

Transliteration

manvādi paṭhatāṃ śāstraṃ yatphalaṃ hi dvijanmanaḥ | adhikaṃ phalamāpnoti kurvāṇo jāgaraṃ hareḥ

Translation

أيُّ ثمرٍ روحيّ يناله ذوو الولادتين بتلاوة الشاسترا المبتدئة بتعاليم «مانف-آدي»، فإن مَن يقيم السَّهَر لهاري ينال ثمرةً أعظم من ذلك.

Word by Word

• manu-ādi: Manu etc. (texts beginning with Manu)
• manu-ādi: Karma (Object of reading)
• Type: Noun
• Root: manu (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (मनुः आदिः यस्मात्/यत्र = manu-ādi, ‘Manu and others’/‘beginning with Manu’)

• paṭhatām: of those who read
• paṭhatām: Sambandha (Genitive: of readers)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √paṭh (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले शतृ/शानच्-सम्भव (here: present active participial sense) जन्यं रूपम्; षष्ठी बहुवचन (genitive plural) ‘of those who read’; व्यवहारतः ‘पठताम्’ = पठन्तानाम्

• śāstram: the scripture
• śāstram: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śāstra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• yat-phalam: whatever fruit
• yat-phalam: Karma/Prameya
• Type: Noun
• Root: yat (यद्-प्रातिपदिक) + phala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha/Discourse particle
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (emphasis/causal particle)

• dvijanmanaḥ: of a twice-born (Brahmin)
• dvijanmanaḥ: Sambandha (Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvijanman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध) विभक्ति, एकवचन

• adhikam: greater
• adhikam: Visheshana (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: adhika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘फलम्’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• phalam: fruit/result
• phalam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: phala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म) विभक्ति, एकवचन

• āpnoti: attains
• āpnoti: Kriya (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√āp (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमानकाल), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• kurvāṇaḥ: doing/performing
• kurvāṇaḥ: Karta (Agent)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु) → kurvāṇa (कृदन्त, शानच्)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शानच्), परस्मैपदी; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्तरि प्रयोग; कर्तृविशेषणम् (he who is doing)

• jāgaram: the vigil
• jāgaram: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jāgara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म) विभक्ति, एकवचन

• hareḥ: of Hari
• hareḥ: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: hari (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) speaking to the sages (deduced from Purāṇic narration style within Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa sections)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dvārakā

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A learned twice-born reciter with palm-leaf manuscripts pauses to join a night vigil: lamps, chanting, and Hari’s image; the scene contrasts scholarship with devotional wakefulness, harmonizing both.

Characters & Entities

• Hari

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotional observance (jāgaraṇa for Hari) can surpass even learned scriptural recitation in spiritual merit when performed with faith and discipline.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dvārakā is the implied sacred locus, as this verse occurs within the Dvārakā Māhātmya section of the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Keeping a religious night vigil (jāgaraṇa)—staying awake in worship of Hari (Viṣṇu), typically with kīrtana, japa, and remembrance.