Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 33

Devanagari script

तिलोदकेन तत्रैव तर्पयेत्पितृदेवताः । आ सप्तमं कुलं तस्य स्वर्गे मोदति पाण्डव

Transliteration

tilodakena tatraiva tarpayetpitṛdevatāḥ | ā saptamaṃ kulaṃ tasya svarge modati pāṇḍava

Translation

Dort selbst soll er mit Wasser, das mit Sesam vermischt ist, die Ahnen-Gottheiten durch Libationen sättigen. Bis zur siebten Generation seines Geschlechts freut man sich im Himmel, o Pāṇḍava.

Word by Word

• tila-udakena: with sesame-water
• tila-udakena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tila (प्रातिपदिक) + udaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचनम्; तत्पुरुषः (तिलयुक्तम् उदकम्)

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्ययम्

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक-निपातः (emphatic particle)

• tarpayet: should satisfy (offer libations to)
• tarpayet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √tṛp (तृप्)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd person), एकवचनम्; causative sense in ritual usage ‘to satisfy/offer’

• pitṛ-devatāḥ: the ancestral deities (pitṛs)
• pitṛ-devatāḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक) + devatā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गः, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचनम्; तत्पुरुषः (पितर एव देवताः)

• ā: up to
• ā: Sambandha (Limit/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ā (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधि/पर्यन्तवाचक-अव्ययम् (preposition/adverb ‘up to’)

• saptamam: seventh
• saptamam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: saptama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचनम्; क्रमवाचक-विशेषणम् (kulaṃ इति विशेष्ये)

• kulam: family line
• kulam: Karma (Extent/object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kula (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचनम्

• tasya: of him
• tasya: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः/नपुंसकलिङ्गः, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचनम्; सर्वनाम

• svarge: in heaven
• svarge: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचनम्

• modati: rejoices
• modati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √mud (मुद्)
• Form: लट्-लकारः (Present), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd person), एकवचनम्

• pāṇḍava: O Pāṇḍava
• pāṇḍava: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāṇḍava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचनम्

Speaker

Narrator (Skanda Purāṇa voice) addressing a Pāṇḍava interlocutor (likely Yudhiṣṭhira)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (contextual)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pāṇḍava

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At the ghat, the performer pours sesame-mixed water through fingers while chanting ‘svadhā’; subtle ancestral figures appear content in the background; the river glows with sanctity.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛdevatās
• Pāṇḍava

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ancestral gratitude (pitṛ-ṛṇa discharge) performed at a tīrtha yields expansive, lineage-wide spiritual benefit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A Revā-khaṇḍa tīrtha within the Narmadā (Revā) sacred landscape celebrated in the Skanda Purāṇa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Pitṛ-tarpaṇa using tilodaka (water with sesame) offered to the Pitṛs.