Skanda Purana — Vishnu Khanda, Shloka 58

Devanagari script

माघे कृष्णचतुर्दश्यां यात्रा सांवत्सरी भवेत् । तत्र स्नानं पितॄणान्तु तर्पणं च विशेषतः

Transliteration

māghe kṛṣṇacaturdaśyāṃ yātrā sāṃvatsarī bhavet | tatra snānaṃ pitṝṇāntu tarpaṇaṃ ca viśeṣataḥ

Translation

Am vierzehnten Mondtag der dunklen Hälfte im Monat Māgha wird die Pilgerfahrt fruchtbar wie ein ganzes Jahr. Dort soll man baden und insbesondere den Pitṛs (Ahnen) tarpaṇa, Wasserlibationen, darbringen.

Word by Word

• māghe: in (the month of) Māgha
• māghe: Adhikaraṇa (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māgha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; कालवाचक-सप्तमी (locative of time)

• kṛṣṇa-caturdaśyām: on the dark-fortnight fourteenth (tithi)
• kṛṣṇa-caturdaśyām: Adhikaraṇa (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛṣṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + caturdaśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; तिथिवाचक-सप्तमी (locative of time)

• yātrā: pilgrimage/journey
• yātrā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yātrā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• sāṃvatsarī: annual
• sāṃvatsarī: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sāṃvatsarī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying yātrā)

• bhavet: should be / may occur
• bhavet: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (Place/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• snānam: bathing
• snānam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: snāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• pitṝṇām: of the ancestors
• pitṝṇām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन

• tu: but/indeed
• tu: Sambandha (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle), विरोध/विशेषार्थक

• tarpaṇam: libation/oblatory satisfaction (tarpana)
• tarpaṇam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tarpaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• viśeṣataḥ: especially
• viśeṣataḥ: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: viśeṣatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

Speaker

Viśvāmitra (deduced from Adhyāya context; confirmed later in 66)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ayodhyā-yātrā (Māgha kṛṣṇa-caturdaśī)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Māgha pilgrimage scene: winter morning at Sarayū, pilgrims wrapped in shawls, performing snāna and then tarpaṇa facing the river, with offerings arranged on the steps.

Characters & Entities

• Māgha
• Kṛṣṇa Caturdaśī
• Pitṛs

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A timely pilgrimage and tīrtha-bath, joined with ancestral offerings, condenses great merit—like a year’s puṇya—into one observance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Ayodhyā’s sacred tīrtha context within the Ayodhyāmāhātmya (the verse speaks of ‘there’—tatra—within that praised locale).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (holy bathing) and Pitṛ-tarpaṇa, particularly on Māgha Kṛṣṇa Caturdaśī.