Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31

Devanagari script

गृहस्थः परपाकादी प्रेत्य तत्पशुतां व्रजेत् । श्रेयः परान्नपुष्टस्य गृह्णीयादन्नदो यतः

Transliteration

gṛhasthaḥ parapākādī pretya tatpaśutāṃ vrajet | śreyaḥ parānnapuṣṭasya gṛhṇīyādannado yataḥ

Translation

Ein Hausherr, der davon lebt, Speise zu essen, die andere gekocht haben, gelangt nach dem Tod in den Zustand ihres Viehs. Darum ergreife das wahrhaft Heilsame: werde ein Spender von Nahrung, nicht einer, der von fremden Mahlzeiten lebt.

Word by Word

• गृहस्थः: a householder
• गृहस्थः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गृहस्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन

• परपाकादी: one who lives on others’ cooking, etc.
• परपाकादी: Visheshana (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक) + पाक (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; परपाक-आदि इति तत्पुरुषः; ‘गृहस्थः’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम् (one who begins with eating others’ cooking etc.)

• प्रेत्य: having died / after departing
• प्रेत्य: Purvakala (Prior action)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्र + इ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (absolutive) ‘प्र + इ’ = having departed (after death)

• तत्पशुताम्: that animal-state
• तत्पशुताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तत् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + पशुता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म) विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्-पशुता इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः

• व्रजेत्: would go to / attain
• व्रजेत्: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्रज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• श्रेयः: the better course / welfare
• श्रेयः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रेयस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन

• परान्नपुष्टस्य: of one nourished by others’ food
• परान्नपुष्टस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक) + अन्न (प्रातिपदिक) + पुष्ट (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √पुष्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध) विभक्ति, एकवचन; पर-अन्न-पुष्ट इति तत्पुरुषः; ‘अन्नदः’ इत्यस्य सम्बन्धी

• गृह्णीयात्: should accept / take
• गृह्णीयात्: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ग्रह् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद

• अन्नदः: the giver of food
• अन्नदः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्न (प्रातिपदिक) + द (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √दा; present participial agent)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; अन्नं ददाति इति (giver of food)

• यतः: because
• यतः: Hetu (Cause)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यतः (अव्यय)
• Form: हेतुवाचक-अव्यय (because/since)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A householder runs a simple annadāna: cooking pot on hearth, serving food to guests/pilgrims; contrasted with a faint symbolic vignette of cattle to indicate the warned post-mortem ‘paśutā’ state.

Characters & Entities

• Gṛhastha (Householder)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A householder should cultivate dignity and merit through anna-dāna, not through habitual dependence on others’ food.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The counsel is delivered in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa milieu, where feeding others is praised as a hallmark of dharma in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Anna-dāna—adopting the role of ‘annada’ (giver of food) as a dharmic practice.