Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 64

Devanagari script

देवखाते नरः स्नात्वा पिण्डदानादिसत्क्रियाम् । यां करोति नृपश्रेष्ठ तामक्षयफलां विदुः

Transliteration

devakhāte naraḥ snātvā piṇḍadānādisatkriyām | yāṃ karoti nṛpaśreṣṭha tāmakṣayaphalāṃ viduḥ

Translation

O bester der Könige, welches verdienstvolle Ritual ein Mensch auch vollzieht—wie die Darbringung von Piṇḍas und andere heilige Observanzen—nach dem Bad in Devakhāta, das gilt als Frucht, die niemals schwindet.

Word by Word

• देवखाते: in/at Devakhāta (sacred tank/place)
• देवखाते: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव + खात (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन (Singular); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: ‘देवानां खातम्’/‘देवस्य खातम्’ (a sacred excavation/tank)

• नरः: a man
• नरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन (Singular)

• स्नात्वा: having bathed
• स्नात्वा: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √स्ना (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (Absolutive/Gerund), अव्ययभाव (indeclinable participle)

• पिण्डदानादिसत्क्रियाम्: the rite such as offering piṇḍas, etc.
• पिण्डदानादिसत्क्रियाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिण्डदान + आदि + सत्क्रिया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular); समासः: (i) पिण्डदान (कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष-प्रायः: ‘पिण्डस्य दानम्’), (ii) पिण्डदानादि (अव्ययीभाव-प्रायः ‘आदि’ सहित ‘etc.’), (iii) पिण्डदानादि-सत्क्रिया (तत्पुरुषः: ‘पिण्डदानादेः सत्क्रिया’)

• याम्: which
• याम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular); सम्बन्धवाचक सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• करोति: does/performs
• करोति: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कृ (धातु)
• Form: लट् लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद (Parasmaipada)

• नृपश्रेष्ठ: O best of kings
• नृपश्रेष्ठ: Sambodhana (Vocative/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप + श्रेष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन (Singular); कर्मधारयः: ‘श्रेष्ठः नृपः’

• ताम्: that (rite)
• ताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular); सर्वनाम (correlative)

• अक्षयफलाम्: having imperishable fruit
• अक्षयफलाम्: Karma (Object complement/कर्मपूरक)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अक्षय + फल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular); विशेषण (qualifying ‘ताम्’/‘सत्क्रियाम्’); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: ‘अक्षयं फलम् यस्याः सा’ (sense close to bahuvrīhi, but used adjectivally as determinative)

• विदुः: they know/consider
• विदुः: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √विद् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन (Plural), परस्मैपद (Parasmaipada)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic instruction to a king)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Devakhāta

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nṛpaśreṣṭha (best of kings)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim-king and attendants at a stepped riverbank (khāta/ghāṭa), performing snāna; then a priest guides piṇḍadāna with sesame and rice-balls on darbha, with the Revā flowing beside.

Characters & Entities

• Devakhāta
• piṇḍadāna

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Rites performed at a sanctified tīrtha become spiritually amplified, producing akṣaya (undiminishing) merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Devakhāta, a sacred bathing-place praised within the Revā Khaṇḍa’s pilgrimage geography.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (ritual bathing) followed by piṇḍadāna and related satkriyās (proper religious rites), especially aligned with śrāddha-type offerings.