Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 64

Devanagari script

पौषे मास्यर्कदिवसे यः स्नात्वा भास्करोदये । दानहोमंजपंकुर्यादर्चामर्कस्य सुव्रत

Transliteration

pauṣe māsyarkadivase yaḥ snātvā bhāskarodaye | dānahomaṃjapaṃkuryādarcāmarkasya suvrata

Translation

O du, der ein vortreffliches Gelübde hält: Im Monat Pauṣa, am heiligen Tag der Sonne, wer beim Aufgang Bhāskaras badet und dann Gabe, Feueropfer (homa) und japa vollzieht und die Sonne verehrt, erlangt das verheißene Verdienst.

Word by Word

• pauṣe: in Pauṣa
• pauṣe: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pauṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (māsi): ‘in the month of Pauṣa’

• māsi: in the month
• māsi: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• arka-divase: on Sunday
• arka-divase: Adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arka (प्रातिपदिक) + divasa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; ‘अर्कस्य दिवसः’ (Sun’s day/Sunday)

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• snātvā: having bathed
• snātvā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: √snā (धातु) + क्त्वा (Kridanta/absolutive)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive): ‘having bathed’

• bhāskara-udaye: at sunrise
• bhāskara-udaye: Adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāskara (प्रातिपदिक) + udaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; ‘भास्करस्य उदयः’

• dāna-homa-japam: charity, oblation, and recitation
• dāna-homa-japam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dāna (प्रातिपदिक) + homa (प्रातिपदिक) + japa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व (समाहारार्थ): ‘दानं च होमं च जपं च’

• kuryāt: should do
• kuryāt: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• arcām: worship, offering
• arcām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arcā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• arkasya: of the Sun
• arkasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), एकवचन

• suvrata: O one of good vows
• suvrata: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: suvrata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Ganga-ghaṭa sunrise snāna on Arkadivasa in Pauṣa)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: suvrata (addressed devotee)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Winter dawn in Pauṣa: mist over the Ganga, a devotee completes sunrise bath, then performs a small homa on the ghat, counts japa beads, offers arghya and flowers to the rising Sun.

Characters & Entities

• Pauṣa (month)
• Arka (Sūrya)
• Bhāskara (Sun)
• Dāna
• Homa
• Japa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A disciplined solar observance—sunrise bath plus dāna, homa, and japa—accumulates strong puṇya and purifies life.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is within Kāśīkhaṇḍa; it implies a sacred bathing setting consistent with Kāśī’s ritual culture, though no particular ghāṭa/tīrtha is named.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

In Pauṣa on Arka-day: bathe at sunrise, perform dāna, homa, japa, and worship (arcana) of the Sun.