Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 34

Devanagari script

वपनं तत्र कर्तव्यं पिंडदानं च भावतः । देयानि तत्र दानानि महाफलमभीप्सुना

Transliteration

vapanaṃ tatra kartavyaṃ piṃḍadānaṃ ca bhāvataḥ | deyāni tatra dānāni mahāphalamabhīpsunā

Translation

Dort soll man das vapanam (rituelle Tonsur) vollziehen und in aufrichtiger Gesinnung piṇḍa-Opfer darbringen; und wer großen Lohn begehrt, soll dort Gaben in Wohltätigkeit spenden.

Word by Word

• वपनम्: shaving (rite)
• वपनम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वपन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — “shaving/tonsure”

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Desha-adhikarana (Locative adverbial/देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय — देशवाचक (adverb of place: there)

• कर्तव्यम्: should be done
• कर्तव्यम्: Vidhi (Obligation predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृ (धातु) → कर्तव्य (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, तव्यत्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; तव्यत्-प्रत्यय — “to be done/should be done” (predicate adjective)

• पिण्ड-दानम्: piṇḍa-offering
• पिण्ड-दानम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिण्ड (प्रातिपदिक) + दान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष — “offering of rice-balls (to ancestors)”

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय — समुच्चय (conjunction: and)

• भावतः: with devotion
• भावतः: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: भाव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव/क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण — तसिल्-अर्थे तृतीया/पञ्चमी-प्राय प्रयोगः; adverb “with sincerity/with devotion”

• देयानि: should be given
• देयानि: Vidhi (Obligation predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दा (धातु) → देय (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, यत्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; यत्-प्रत्यय — “to be given/should be given” (qualifies ‘दानानि’)

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Desha-adhikarana (Locative adverbial/देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय — देशवाचक

• दानानि: gifts
• दानानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• महा-फलम्: great reward
• महा-फलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + फल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्मधारय — “great fruit” (object of desire)

• अभीप्सुना: by one who desires
• अभीप्सुना: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अभि + आप्/ईप्स् (धातु) → अभीप्सु (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, इच्छार्थक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन — “by one desiring”

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī tīrtha (the previously mentioned saṅgama/spot)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer (traditional frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: On a Kāśī riverbank, a pilgrim undergoes ritual shaving; nearby, another offers piṇḍas on darbha with water-libations; donors distribute food and cloth to brāhmaṇas; the Gaṅgā flows behind with ghāṭ steps and small shrines.

Characters & Entities

• Vapana (tonsure)
• Piṇḍadāna
• Dāna
• Tīrtha (implied location from prior verse)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma in a tīrtha setting—performed with sincere bhāva—is said to yield exceptionally great spiritual results.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The same sacred meeting-point/tīrtha referenced immediately prior, presented as fit for ancestral rites and giving.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Vapana (tonsure), piṇḍadāna (ancestral offering), and dāna (charitable gifts).