Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 48

Devanagari script

अश्वमेधादिभिर्यज्ञैर्गयायां पिंडदस्य यत् । तत्फलं जायते नॄणां दृष्टे दामोदरे नृप

Transliteration

aśvamedhādibhiryajñairgayāyāṃ piṃḍadasya yat | tatphalaṃ jāyate nṝṇāṃ dṛṣṭe dāmodare nṛpa

Translation

O König, die Frucht, die aus Opfern wie dem Aśvamedha erwächst, und die Frucht der Piṇḍa-Darbringung in Gayā—ebendiese Frucht wird den Menschen zuteil, allein durch das Schauen Dāmodaras.

Word by Word

• aśvamedha-ādibhiḥ: by Aśvamedha and other (rites)
• aśvamedha-ādibhiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aśvamedha (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन (Plural); तत्पुरुष: ‘aśvamedhaḥ ādiḥ yeṣām’ (etc. including Aśvamedha)

• yajñaiḥ: by sacrifices
• yajñaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yajña (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• gayāyām: in Gayā
• gayāyām: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gayā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular)

• piṇḍa-dasya: of the piṇḍa-offerer
• piṇḍa-dasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: piṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक) + dasya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), एकवचन (Singular); तत्पुरुष: ‘piṇḍaṃ dadāti iti’ (giver/offerer of piṇḍa)

• yat: whatever/that which
• yat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); सम्बन्धबोधक (relative pronoun)

• tat-phalam: that result
• tat-phalam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + phala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); कर्मधारय: ‘tat phalam’

• jāyate: arises/comes about
• jāyate: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jan (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present/लट्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), आत्मनेपद (Ātmanepada)

• nṝṇām: for/of men
• nṝṇām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन (Plural)

• dṛṣṭe: when (Dāmodara) is seen
• dṛṣṭe: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Locative absolute/सति-सप्तमी)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dṛś (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त-भूतकर्मणि-क्त (Past Passive Participle) used as सति-सप्तमी (Locative absolute), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine)/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular); ‘when (he) is seen’

• dāmodare: in/with regard to Dāmodara
• dāmodare: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dāmodara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular) (co-occurring with saptamī absolute)

• nṛpa: O king
• nṛpa: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन (Singular)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa māhātmya narration style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dāmodara-darśana at Vastrāpatha (Prabhāsa)

Type: temple

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nṛpa (King)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A king and pilgrims stand before an image of Dāmodara (Viṣṇu as the bound child/with rope motif), hands folded; behind them symbolic vignettes of Aśvamedha altar and Gayā śrāddha fade like metaphors, showing equivalence through darśana.

Characters & Entities

• Dāmodara
• Gayā
• Aśvamedha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotional vision (darśana) of the Lord can bestow merits equal to the greatest sacrifices and ancestral rites.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vastrāpathakṣetra is being praised as a place where seeing Dāmodara yields extraordinary results; Gayā is referenced as a benchmark tīrtha for piṇḍa-offering.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse contrasts major yajñas and Gayā piṇḍa-offering with the simple act of beholding Dāmodara (deity darśana).