Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

हव्यं कव्यं भूतबलिं देवादीनां प्रवर्तयन् । प्राह्णापराह्णमध्याह्न क्रियाकालं विजृंभयन्

Transliteration

havyaṃ kavyaṃ bhūtabaliṃ devādīnāṃ pravartayan | prāhṇāparāhṇamadhyāhna kriyākālaṃ vijṛṃbhayan

Translation

Setting in motion the offerings to the Devas, the ancestral oblations, and the bali for beings, he unfolds the proper times for rites—morning, midday, and afternoon.

Word by Word

• havyam: havya-offering
• havyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: havya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘oblation to gods’

• kavyam: kavya-offering
• kavyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kavya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘offering to pitṛs’

• bhūta-balim: offering to beings
• bhūta-balim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūta (प्रातिपदिक) + bali (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः ‘भूतानां बलिः’

• deva-ādīnām: of gods and others
• deva-ādīnām: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठī)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः ‘देवाः आदयः येषाम्’ → ‘of gods and others’

• pravartayan: causing (them) to proceed
• pravartayan: Karta (Agent-participle/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √vṛt (धातु) + pra- (उपसर्ग)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त causative-participle ‘setting in motion/causing to proceed’

• prāhṇa-aparāhṇa-madhyāhna: (the divisions) forenoon–afternoon–midday
• prāhṇa-aparāhṇa-madhyāhna: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prāhṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + aparāhṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + madhyāhna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (समाहार-द्वन्द्वः); ‘forenoon, afternoon, midday’ as a collective

• kriyā-kālam: the time for rites
• kriyā-kālam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kriyā (प्रातिपदिक) + kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः ‘क्रियायाः कालः’

• vijṛṃbhayan: expanding
• vijṛṃbhayan: Karta (Agent-participle/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √jṛmbh (धातु) + vi- (उपसर्ग)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त causative/denominative sense ‘expanding/spreading out’

Speaker

Vyāsa (continued narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A single day shown in three panels: morning offerings to devas at a small altar, midday sandhyā with arghya, and afternoon pitṛ rites; the Sun arcs overhead marking prāhna–madhyāhna–aparāhna.

Characters & Entities

• Sūrya
• Devas
• Pitṛs (implied by kavya)
• Bhūtas (by bhūtabali)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma is lived through right timing and ordered worship; sacred time is a divine structure sustaining ritual and society.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No particular tīrtha is named; the verse emphasizes universal ritual order relevant to pilgrimage practice as well.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It references havya (deva-offerings), kavya (pitṛ-offerings), and bhūtabali, and notes that the Sun reveals the proper ritual times (kriyā-kāla) such as prāhṇa, madhyāhna, and aparāhṇa.