Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 33

Devanagari script

ददद्विजातये मुक्तो जायते स ऋणत्रयात्

Transliteration

dadadvijātaye mukto jāyate sa ṛṇatrayāt

Translation

Wer einem Dvija (Zweimalgeborenen) Almosen gibt, wird von der dreifachen Schuld frei und wird, davon erlöst, geboren.

Word by Word

• ददत्: (one) giving
• ददत्: कर्ता (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दा (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्तं वर्तमान-कृदन्तम्; पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा-विभक्तिः एकवचनम्; ‘giving’

• विजातये: to a twice-born (person)
• विजातये: सम्प्रदान (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विजाति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे चतुर्थी-विभक्तिः एकवचनम् (dative singular)

• मुक्तः: freed
• मुक्तः: क्रिया-विशेषण (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मुक्त (प्रातिपदिक; कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा-विभक्तिः एकवचनम्; क्त-प्रत्ययान्तम्; ‘freed’ (past passive participle)

• जायते: is born / arises
• जायते: क्रिया (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकारः, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्; आत्मनेपदम् (present, 3rd sg, middle)

• स: he
• स: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा-विभक्तिः एकवचनम् (nominative singular)

• ऋणत्रयात्: from the three debts
• ऋणत्रयात्: अपादान (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋण-त्रय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे पञ्चमी-विभक्तिः एकवचनम् (ablative singular)

Speaker

Brahmā (deduced from immediate continuation into Brahmā–Nārada dialogue context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nārada

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A donor respectfully offers charity to a learned twice-born; behind them are symbolic representations of the three debts—devas (fire altar), ṛṣis (manuscripts), pitṛs (ancestral offerings)—being dissolved.

Characters & Entities

• Dvija
• Ṛṇa-traya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Charity offered to the worthy purifies karmic obligations and helps one transcend the classical threefold debts of dharmic life.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The wider adhyāya belongs to the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya in Nāgara Khaṇḍa, though this verse itself states a general dāna principle.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Dāna (charity) directed to a dvija, framed as a means of release from ṛṇa-traya.