Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 122

Devanagari script

अपुत्रता मनुष्याणां श्रेयसे न कुपुत्रता । सुहृदां नोपकाराय पितॄणां नापि तृप्तये

Transliteration

aputratā manuṣyāṇāṃ śreyase na kuputratā | suhṛdāṃ nopakārāya pitṝṇāṃ nāpi tṛptaye

Translation

Für die Menschen ist Kinderlosigkeit zum eigenen Heil besser als ein böser Sohn—der den Freunden keinen Nutzen bringt und nicht einmal die Ahnen zufriedenstellt.

Word by Word

• अपुत्रता: childlessness
• अपुत्रता: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अ-पुत्रता (प्रातिपदिक; पुत्र + ता-प्रत्यय)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; नञ्-तत्पुरुष (अ + पुत्रता)

• मनुष्याणाम्: of humans
• मनुष्याणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनुष्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• श्रेयसे: for welfare/betterment
• श्रेयसे: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रेयस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन

• न: not
• न: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय (negation particle)

• कुपुत्रता: having a bad son
• कुपुत्रता: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कु-पुत्रता (प्रातिपदिक; पुत्र + ता-प्रत्यय)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; उपपद-तत्पुरुष (कु + पुत्रता)

• सुहृदाम्: of friends/well-wishers
• सुहृदाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुहृद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• न: not
• न: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय (negation particle); (नोपकाराय इत्यत्र संधिविच्छेदः)

• उपकाराय: for benefit/help
• उपकाराय: Sampradana (Purpose/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपकार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन

• पितॄणाम्: of the forefathers/parents
• पितॄणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• न: not
• न: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय; (नापि इत्यत्र संधिविच्छेदः)

• अपि: also/even
• अपि: Discourse particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपेक्षार्थक-अव्यय (also/even)

• तृप्तये: for satisfaction
• तृप्तये: Sampradana (Purpose/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तृप्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (implied, within Nārada’s narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra (Prabhāsa)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Symbolic moral scene: on one side, an empty cradle (aputrata) with calm household; on the other, a wayward son causing turmoil; faint ancestral figures (pitṛs) appear unsatisfied in the background, hands extended for tarpaṇa.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Suhṛd (friends/well-wishers)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Righteousness is superior to mere lineage: an unrighteous son fails both social duty (helping well-wishers) and pitṛ-duty (bringing ancestral satisfaction).

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching occurs within the Vastrāpatha-kṣetra Māhātmya of Prabhāsa; it supports the broader purāṇic theme that kṣetra-sevā and dharma restore what adharma destroys.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is described here; the verse references the goal of pitṛ-tṛpti (ancestor satisfaction) in principle.