Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 46

Devanagari script

स्वर्गे वसति धर्मात्मा यावदाभूतसम्प्लवम् । माण्डव्यनारायणाख्ये विप्रान् भोजयतेऽग्रतः

Transliteration

svarge vasati dharmātmā yāvadābhūtasamplavam | māṇḍavyanārāyaṇākhye viprān bhojayate'grataḥ

Translation

Jene dharmische Seele weilt im Himmel bis zur kosmischen Auflösung. Am heiligen Ort namens Māṇḍavya-Nārāyaṇa speist er zuvorderst die Brāhmaṇas und stellt Dharma und Gastfreundschaft an die Spitze der Verehrung.

Word by Word

• स्वर्गे: in heaven
• स्वर्गे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वर्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः (Locative), एकवचनम्

• वसति: dwells
• वसति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वस् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकारः (Present), प्रथम-पुरुषः (3rd person), एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्

• धर्म-आत्मा: the righteous-souled person
• धर्म-आत्मा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः (Nominative), एकवचनम्; बहुव्रीहिः (धर्मः आत्मा यस्य सः)

• यावत्: until, as long as
• यावत्: Temporal limit marker (अवधि)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यावत् (अव्यय/संबन्ध-शब्द)
• Form: अव्यय-प्रयोगः; परिमाण/अवधि-बोधक (until/as long as)

• आ-भूत-सम्प्लवम्: up to the cosmic dissolution
• आ-भूत-सम्प्लवम्: Karma as limit (अवधि-पर्यन्त)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आ (उपसर्ग) + भूत (प्रातिपदिक) + सम्प्लव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः (Accusative), एकवचनम्; अव्ययीभाव/तत्पुरुष-प्रयोगः: आ + (भूतसम्प्लव) = ‘भूतानां सम्प्लवः’ (प्रलयः) पर्यन्तम्

• माण्डव्य-नारायण-आख्ये: in (the place/temple) called Māṇḍavya-Nārāyaṇa
• माण्डव्य-नारायण-आख्ये: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: माण्डव्य (प्रातिपदिक) + नारायण (प्रातिपदिक) + आख्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः (Locative), एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (स्थाने/देवालये); समासः: (माण्डव्यनारायण इति आख्यः) = तत्पुरुषः

• विप्रान्: brāhmaṇas
• विप्रान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः (Accusative), बहुवचनम्

• भोजयते: he feeds
• भोजयते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भुज् (धातु) [णिच्-प्रयोगः: भोजयति]
• Form: लट्-लकारः (Present), प्रथम-पुरुषः (3rd person), एकवचनम्; आत्मनेपदम्; णिच् (causative) अर्थः: ‘भोजयति’ = to feed

• अग्रतः: in front, beforehand
• अग्रतः: Adverbial modifier (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अग्रतः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb) ‘पुरतः/समक्षम्’

Speaker

Śiva (deduced from Adhyāya context; later verse says “śivabhāṣitam”)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Māṇḍavya-Nārāyaṇa

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: In the Māṇḍavya-Nārāyaṇa precinct, a righteous donor serves seated brāhmaṇas first, with clean leaf-plates and water vessels; above, a serene svarga scene hints at long heavenly residence.

Characters & Entities

• Svarga
• Māṇḍavya-Nārāyaṇa
• Vipra (Brāhmaṇa)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Charity expressed as feeding the worthy at a holy place becomes enduring merit with heavenly residence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Māṇḍavya-Nārāyaṇa is explicitly mentioned as the sacred locus for this meritorious feeding.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Vipra-bhojana (feeding brāhmaṇas), performed prominently at Māṇḍavya-Nārāyaṇa.