Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

अहुताशी ह्यसंतुष्टः सर्वाशी सर्वविक्रयी । कदर्या नास्तिकाः क्रूराः कृतघ्ना ये द्विजायः

Transliteration

ahutāśī hyasaṃtuṣṭaḥ sarvāśī sarvavikrayī | kadaryā nāstikāḥ krūrāḥ kṛtaghnā ye dvijāyaḥ

Translation

Die ohne heilige Darbringung essen, die stets unzufrieden sind, die alles essen, die alles verkaufen, und die geizig, gottlos, grausam und undankbar sind—solche sind die gefallenen Zweimalgeborenen.

Word by Word

• अहुताशी: one who eats without offering (to gods/guests)
• अहुताशी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अ + हुत + आशिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (अहुतं अश्नाति)

• हि: indeed
• हि: Discourse particle/निपात
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात

• असंतुष्टः: unsatisfied
• असंतुष्टः: Predicate/विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ + संतुष्ट (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; तुष् धातु, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; नञ्-समास/उपसर्गयुक्त

• सर्वाशी: one who eats everything/anything
• सर्वाशी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व + आशिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (सर्वं अश्नाति)

• सर्वविक्रयी: one who sells everything
• सर्वविक्रयी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व + विक्रयिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (सर्वं विक्रीणाति)

• कदर्याः: miserly
• कदर्याः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कदर्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• नास्तिकाः: atheists/deniers
• नास्तिकाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नास्तिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• क्रूराः: cruel
• क्रूराः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रूर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• कृतघ्नाः: ungrateful (destroyers of good deeds)
• कृतघ्नाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृत + घ्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः (कृतं हन्ति/न जानाति)

• ये: who (those who)
• ये: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• द्विजायः: Brahmins (twice-born)
• द्विजायः: Apposition/सम्बोधन-समानााधिकरण
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; पाठभेदः सम्भाव्यः—‘द्विजाः’ इति सामान्यरूपम्

Speaker

Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā), inferred

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (general)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: sages/pilgrims

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A brāhmaṇa eating hastily without offering, a marketplace scene of ‘selling everything’, a cruel act and an ungrateful turning away from a benefactor; in the background, the river and a shrine invite repentance.

Characters & Entities

• Dvija

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A dharmic life sanctifies consumption and livelihood through offering, restraint, gratitude, and compassion; their opposites are portrayed as spiritual downfall.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Revā (Narmadā) is the tīrtha-context wherein even such degraded persons are later said to find release.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Offering before eating (huta/ahuti—acting in a spirit of yajña and hospitality) is implied by the critique of ahutāśī.