Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 59

Devanagari script

एभिरष्टचत्वारिंशद्भिः संस्कारैः संकृतो ब्राह्मणो भवति

Transliteration

ebhiraṣṭacatvāriṃśadbhiḥ saṃskāraiḥ saṃkṛto brāhmaṇo bhavati

Translation

Wer durch diese achtundvierzig Saṃskāras (Weihe- und Läuterungsriten) ordnungsgemäß veredelt wird, wird zu einem (wahren) Brāhmaṇa.

Word by Word

• ebhiḥ: by these
• ebhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• aṣṭa-catvāriṃśad-bhiḥ: by forty-eight
• aṣṭa-catvāriṃśad-bhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭa (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + catvāriṃśat (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्यावाचक-द्विगु, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन; संस्कारैः इति विशेषणम्

• saṃskāraiḥ: by rites/saṃskāras
• saṃskāraiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃskāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• saṃkṛtaḥ: refined/formed
• saṃkṛtaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam- (उपसर्ग) + √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय, past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मणि-भावः (having been duly formed/refined)

• brāhmaṇaḥ: a brāhmaṇa
• brāhmaṇaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• bhavati: becomes
• bhavati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

Unspecified (Revā Khaṇḍa narrator)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha milieu

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A schematic, almost iconographic scene: a teacher indicates a sequence of saṃskāras—fire-rite, tonsure, upanayana—culminating in a serene brāhmaṇa figure holding a Veda.

Characters & Entities

• Brāhmaṇa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Spiritual identity is achieved through disciplined refinement—saṃskāras and conduct, not mere birth-claim.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it is a doctrinal conclusion within the Revā Khaṇḍa setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It prescribes completion of the enumerated saṃskāras (forty-eight) as the basis of ritual-spiritual refinement.