Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 27

Devanagari script

पौर्णमास्यां रवैर्वारे स पितॄनुद्धरेन्निजान् । अपि स्वकर्मणा प्राप्तान्नरके दारुणाकृतौ

Transliteration

paurṇamāsyāṃ ravairvāre sa pitṝnuddharennijān | api svakarmaṇā prāptānnarake dāruṇākṛtau

Translation

Am Vollmondtag (Paurṇamāsī), wenn er auf einen Sonntag fällt, wird er seine eigenen Ahnen emporheben—selbst jene, die durch ihr eigenes Tun in eine schreckliche Hölle gelangt sind.

Word by Word

• paurṇamāsyām: on the full-moon day
• paurṇamāsyām: Adhikaraṇa (Time)
• Type: Noun
• Root: paurṇamāsī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन (Singular)

• ravaiḥ: on Sunday (lit. by the Suns)
• ravaiḥ: Adhikaraṇa (Time marker; idiomatic)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ravi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचन (Plural); अर्थे—‘रविवारे’ इति (Sunday) हेतु/सम्बन्धे

• vāre: on the day
• vāre: Adhikaraṇa (Time)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन (Singular)

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• pitṝn: the fathers/ancestors
• pitṝn: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (Accusative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• uddharet: would lift up/rescue
• uddharet: Kriyā (Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ud-√hṛ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular); परस्मैपदम्

• nijān: his own
• nijān: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nija (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (Accusative), बहुवचन (Plural); विशेषणं pitṝn

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Concession/emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle; concessive/emphatic)

• sva-karmaṇā: by their own deeds
• sva-karmaṇā: Karaṇa/Hetu (Means/cause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक) + karman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular); कर्मधारयः—‘स्वं कर्म’

• prāptān: having reached; fallen into
• prāptān: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pra-āp (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (Accusative), बहुवचन (Plural); विशेषणं pitṝn

• narake: in hell
• narake: Adhikaraṇa (Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन (Singular)

• dāruṇa-ākṛtau: of dreadful form/condition
• dāruṇa-ākṛtau: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier of narake; locative description)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dāruṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + ākṛti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन (Singular); तत्पुरुषः—‘दारुणा आकृतिः’

Speaker

Unspecified narrator within the Purāṇic frame

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (implied)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: (Not shown in excerpt)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Night of the full moon; a devotee performs tarpaṇa and śrāddha by lamp-light; above, the moon glows while the sun’s day (Sunday) is symbolically indicated; in a visionary overlay, ancestors rise from a dark infernal realm toward light.

Characters & Entities

• Paurṇamāsī
• Ravivāra (Sunday)
• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Naraka
• Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Compassionate duty to ancestors, performed with correct timing at a sacred place, can mitigate even severe karmic destinies.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The tīrtha within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya framework (Nāgara Khaṇḍa).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Śrāddha (implied from prior verse) on Paurṇimā specifically when it coincides with Ravivāra (Sunday).