Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 12

Devanagari script

सन्तर्पयन्ति ते चैतान्मुक्त्वा नान्दीमुखान्पितॄन् । ब्रह्मणा ते समादिष्टाः पितरो नृपसत्तम

Transliteration

santarpayanti te caitānmuktvā nāndīmukhānpitṝn | brahmaṇā te samādiṣṭāḥ pitaro nṛpasattama

Translation

O Bester der Könige, nachdem man die Nandīmukha-Pitṛs beiseitegelassen hat, sättigt man diese anderen durch Darbringungen (Wasser und Speise); diese Pitṛs wurden hierfür von Brahmā bestimmt.

Word by Word

• सन्तर्पयन्ति: they satisfy/offer oblations to (they propitiate)
• सन्तर्पयन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सन्तर्पय् (धातु; तृप्-णिच् + सम्)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन (Plural)

• ते: they
• ते: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st case/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

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

• एतान्: these (ones)
• एतान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (2nd case/Accusative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• मुक्त्वा: having released/after leaving
• मुक्त्वा: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial to main action/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच् (धातु) + क्त्वा (क्त्वान्त-कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (absolutive/gerund), पूर्वकाल (prior action)

• नान्दीमुखान्: the Nāndīmukha (ancestors)
• नान्दीमुखान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नान्दीमुख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (2nd case/Accusative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• पितॄन्: the fathers/manes (pitṛs)
• पितॄन्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (2nd case/Accusative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• ब्रह्मणा: by Brahmā
• ब्रह्मणा: Karana (Instrument/Agent-instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (3rd case/Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular)

• ते: they
• ते: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st case/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• समादिष्टाः: having been instructed/appointed
• समादिष्टाः: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + आ + दिश् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• पितरः: the pitṛs (manes)
• पितरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st case/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• नृपसत्तम: O best of kings
• नृपसत्तम: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप + सत्तम (प्रातिपदिक); नृप (राजन्) + सत्तम (श्रेष्ठतम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन (Singular)

Speaker

Unspecified narrator (Purāṇic dialogue context; likely a sage/narrator addressing a king)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: nṛpāsattama (best of kings)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A ritual sequence panel: first a devotee pauses (symbolically 'setting aside' Nandīmukhas), then offers tarpaṇa to other pitṛ-gaṇas; above, Brahmā gestures in approval, indicating divine appointment of the rite’s structure.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs
• Nandīmukha Pitṛs
• Brahmā
• Tarpaṇa
• Śrāddha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ritual duty has an ordained order; offerings to ancestors follow divinely established distinctions rather than personal preference.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is named in the verse; it explains rite-structure within a tīrtha-māhātmya discourse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It references tarpaṇa—satisfying Pitṛs with offerings—and notes a rule of excluding/setting aside the Nandīmukha Pitṛs in a given sequence.