Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 20

Devanagari script

चकार बहुदानानि लोकानां हितकाम्यया । यावदर्चयते ह्येवं रुद्रोऽपि स्वयमागतः

Transliteration

cakāra bahudānāni lokānāṃ hitakāmyayā | yāvadarcayate hyevaṃ rudro'pi svayamāgataḥ

Translation

Im Wunsch nach dem Wohl der Menschen vollbrachte er viele Gaben und Wohltaten. Und während er so weiter verehrte, kam Rudra selbst dort persönlich herbei.

Word by Word

• cakāra: did / performed
• cakāra: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• bahu-dānāni: many donations
• bahu-dānāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bahu (प्रातिपदिक) + dāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), बहुवचन; कर्म — ‘many gifts’

• lokānām: of the people/worlds
• lokānām: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन

• hita-kāmyayā: with the wish for welfare
• hita-kāmyayā: Karana/Hetu (Instrument/Cause/करण-हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hita (प्रातिपदिक) + kāmyā (प्रातिपदिक; from √kam ‘to desire’)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; हेतुवाचक-करण (instrumental of motive) — ‘for the desire of welfare’

• yāvat: as long as / until
• yāvat: Adhikarana (Temporal limit/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (सम्बन्ध/परिमाणवाचक) — ‘as long as/until’

• arcayate: worships
• arcayate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √arc (धातु) + णिच् (causative)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद; णिजन्त — ‘worships/causes worship’ (here: ‘worships’)

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात/particle) — emphasis/indeed

• evam: thus
• evam: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) — ‘thus/in this manner’

• rudraḥ: Rudra
• rudraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rudra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• api: also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात) — ‘also/even’

• svayam: himself
• svayam: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svayam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) — ‘by himself’

• āgataḥ: came / arrived
• āgataḥ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: āgata (कृदन्त; आ+√gam)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्तरि प्रयोग — ‘having come’

Speaker

Narrator (contextual; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dharmāraṇya (contextual kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Balāhaka distributes gifts to people and priests near the newly established liṅga; as lamps flicker, Rudra manifests—radiant, ash-smeared, with matted locks—approaching the shrine.

Characters & Entities

• Rudra
• Dāna (charity)
• Arcana (worship)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Selfless charity joined with steady worship draws divine grace—so potent that Rudra is said to manifest directly.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dharmāraṇya is presented as a spiritually responsive sacred landscape where devotion quickly bears fruit.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Bahu-dāna (multiple charities) and continuous arcana (ritual worship).