Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 81

Devanagari script

गयाश्राद्धे तु यत्पुण्यं गोग्रहे मरणेन च । तत्फलं तव तोयस्य स्पर्शादेव भविष्यति

Transliteration

gayāśrāddhe tu yatpuṇyaṃ gograhe maraṇena ca | tatphalaṃ tava toyasya sparśādeva bhaviṣyati

Translation

Welches Verdienst man durch das Śrāddha in Gayā erlangt und welches Verdienst man durch den Tod in Go-graha erlangt — derselbe Lohn wird schon durch die bloße Berührung deiner Wasser zuteil.

Word by Word

• gayāśrāddhe: in the Gayā śrāddha (rite at Gayā)
• gayāśrāddhe: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gayā-śrāddha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (सप्तमी: गयायां श्राद्धम्); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/locative), एकवचन

• tu: but; indeed
• tu: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (contrastive particle)

• yat: which
• yat: Karma (Relative object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक (relative)

• puṇyam: merit
• puṇyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṇya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• gograhe: in the act of seizing a cow (sin)
• gograhe: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: go-graha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी: गोः ग्रहः / ‘cow-seizing’); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• maraṇena: by death; through dying
• maraṇena: Karana (Means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/instrumental), एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• tat: that
• tat: Karma (Correlative/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• phalam: fruit; result
• phalam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: phala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• tava: of your
• tava: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/genitive), एकवचन

• toyasya: water
• toyasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: toya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/genitive), एकवचन

• sparśāt: from (the) touch
• sparśāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sparśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/ablative), एकवचन

• eva: alone; indeed
• eva: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• bhaviṣyati: will be; will occur
• bhaviṣyati: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: लृट् (Simple future), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Īśvara (narrator framing the dialogue; promise regarding Sāgara’s sacred waters)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa sacred waters (toya)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At the water’s edge, a householder offers tarpaṇa with cupped hands; behind him appear subtle ancestral silhouettes receiving satisfaction; a distant vignette hints at Gayā’s piṇḍa offerings and an auspicious tirtha-death ideal, all converging into the single act of touching Prabhāsa water.

Characters & Entities

• Gayā
• Śrāddha
• Go-graha
• Sāgara (Ocean)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The tīrtha’s sanctity can grant pitṛ-related and liberation-oriented merit with minimal action.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa Kṣetra’s sacred waters, compared to Gayā and other famed merit-yielding places.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Touching the holy water is emphasized; the verse also alludes to śrāddha as a benchmark rite.