Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 89

Devanagari script

अत्र संकल्प्य च स्नात्वा वेतालवरदे शुभे । पितृभ्यः पिंडदानं च कुर्याद्वै नियमान्वितः

Transliteration

atra saṃkalpya ca snātvā vetālavarade śubhe | pitṛbhyaḥ piṃḍadānaṃ ca kuryādvai niyamānvitaḥ

Translation

Hier soll man, nachdem man einen feierlichen Entschluss gefasst und im glückverheißenden Tīrtha Vētālavarada gebadet hat—unter Einhaltung der vorgeschriebenen Disziplinen—den Pitṛs (Ahnengeistern) die Piṇḍa-Opfergabe darbringen.

Word by Word

• अत्र: here
• अत्र: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb: 'here')

• संकल्प्य: having made a resolve
• संकल्प्य: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: संकल्प् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund); पूर्वक्रिया; 'having resolved/formed an intention'

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction: 'and')

• स्नात्वा: having bathed
• स्नात्वा: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्ना (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund); पूर्वक्रिया; 'having bathed'

• वेतालवरदे: at Vetālavarada (tīrtha)
• वेतालवरदे: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेताल-वरद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (वेतालस्य वरदः); पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग? (स्थलनामरूपेण); सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन (singular)

• शुभे: auspicious
• शुभे: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/स्त्रीलिङ्ग (संदर्भानुसार तीर्थे विशेषणम्); सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन

• पितृभ्यः: to the ancestors
• पितृभ्यः: Sampradāna (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी (4th/चतुर्थी) बहुवचन (plural) (dative)

• पिण्डदानम्: offering of rice-balls (piṇḍa)
• पिण्डदानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिण्ड-दान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (पिण्डस्य दानम्); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-निपात

• कुर्यात्: should do
• कुर्यात्: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative); प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निश्चयार्थक-निपात (emphatic particle)

• नियमान्वितः: endowed with observances
• नियमान्वितः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नियम-अन्वित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: तृतीया/सह-तत्पुरुष (नियमैः अन्वितः = 'endowed with rules'); पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

Speaker

Sūta (deduced from Setukhaṇḍa narrative frame; explicit in next adhyāya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vētālavarada

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim at a sea-shore tīrtha performs saṅkalpa, bathes, then offers piṇḍas to pitṛs on darbha with a calm, disciplined posture; waves and a distant sandbar/bridge line the horizon.

Characters & Entities

• Vētālavarada Tīrtha
• Pitṛs

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pilgrimage becomes complete when joined with disciplined vows and gratitude to one’s ancestors through prescribed rites.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vētālavarada Tīrtha, praised within the Setukhaṇḍa’s Setu Māhātmya context.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Saṅkalpa (vow), snāna (holy bath), and piṇḍa-dāna (ancestral offering) performed with niyamas (observances).