Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 46

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मदेहाद्विनिष्क्रान्ता पावनार्थं शरीरिणाम् । तत्र स्नात्वा नरो भक्त्या तर्पयेत्पितृदेवताः

Transliteration

brahmadehādviniṣkrāntā pāvanārthaṃ śarīriṇām | tatra snātvā naro bhaktyā tarpayetpitṛdevatāḥ

Translation

Aus dem Leib Brahmās hervorgegangen zur Läuterung der verkörperten Wesen, ist sie dort gegenwärtig. Wer dort badet, soll in Hingabe die Ahnengottheiten durch Wasserlibationen (tarpaṇa) sättigen.

Word by Word

• brahma-dehāt: from Brahmā’s body
• brahma-dehāt: Apādāna (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahma (प्रातिपदिक) + deha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास: "brahmaṇaḥ dehaḥ"; पुंलिङ्ग (m.), पञ्चमी (Ablative/5th), एकवचन (sg.)

• viniṣkrāntā: having come forth, emerged
• viniṣkrāntā: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi-niṣ-√kram (धातु)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past active participle in feminine), स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा (Nom./1st), एकवचन (sg.); sarasvatī-आदि नदी-विशेषण: "having emerged"

• pāvana-artham: for purification
• pāvana-artham: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāvana (प्रातिपदिक) + artha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास: "pāvanasya arthaḥ"; पुंलिङ्ग (m.)/नपुंसक (n.) as purpose-noun, द्वितीया (Acc./2nd), एकवचन (sg.); प्रयोजनार्थे (purpose)

• śarīriṇām: of embodied beings
• śarīriṇām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śarīrin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), षष्ठी (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन (pl.)

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• snātvā: having bathed
• snātvā: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (Prior action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √snā (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund): "having bathed"

• naraḥ: a man
• naraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (Nom./1st), एकवचन (sg.)

• bhaktyā: with devotion
• bhaktyā: Karaṇa (Instrument/Means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhakti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), तृतीया (Instr./3rd), एकवचन (sg.)

• tarpayet: should propitiate (by offerings)
• tarpayet: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √tṛp (धातु) (णिच् causative)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन (sg.), परस्मैपद; णिच्-प्रयोग: "should satisfy/offer libations"

• pitṛ-devatāḥ: the ancestral deities (pitṛs)
• pitṛ-devatāḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक) + devatā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास: "pitara eva devatāḥ"; स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), द्वितीया (Acc./2nd), बहुवचन (pl.)

Speaker

Deductive (Revā-khaṇḍa narrator/ṛṣi)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prācī Sarasvatī

Type: river

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A clear, sacred river flowing east; above it, a subtle iconographic hint of Brahmā (four-faced) signifying origin. A devotee emerges from bathing and offers tarpaṇa with cupped hands to pitṛs and devas.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā
• Sarasvatī
• Pitṛs

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred rivers are divine in origin and function as purifiers; devotionally performed rites there connect cosmic sanctity with ancestral obligation.

Which specific holy site (Tīrtha) is glorified here?

The Sarasvatī tīrtha (Prācī Sarasvatī from the prior verse) is glorified through its divine origin from Brahmā.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Bathe at the Sarasvatī and perform pitṛ-tarpaṇa (libations) with devotion to satisfy the pitṛ-devatās.