Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 77

Devanagari script

प्रतिपद्दर्शषष्ठीषु नवम्यां रविवासरे । दंतानां काष्ठसंयोगो दहेदासप्तमं कुलम्

Transliteration

pratipaddarśaṣaṣṭhīṣu navamyāṃ ravivāsare | daṃtānāṃ kāṣṭhasaṃyogo dahedāsaptamaṃ kulam

Translation

On the first tithi, on the day of amāvasyā (new moon), on the sixth, on the ninth, and on Sundays, the use of a wooden twig for cleaning the teeth is said to burn and ruin the family line up to the seventh generation.

Word by Word

• प्रतिपत्-दर्श-षष्ठीषु: on pratipad, new-moon day, and the sixth (tithi)
• प्रतिपत्-दर्श-षष्ठीषु: Adhikaraṇa (Time/Occasion)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रतिपत् + दर्श + षष्ठी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व (प्रतिपत् च दर्शः च षष्ठी च); स्त्रीलिङ्ग (समाहार/बहुवचन-प्रयोगः), सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), बहुवचन

• नवम्याम्: on the ninth (tithi)
• नवम्याम्: Adhikaraṇa (Time)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नवमी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• रविवासरे: on Sunday
• रविवासरे: Adhikaraṇa (Time)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रवि + वासर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (रवेः वासरः = Sunday); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• दन्तानाम्: of the teeth
• दन्तानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दन्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन

• काष्ठसंयोगः: contact with a wooden stick (tooth-stick use)
• काष्ठसंयोगः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काष्ठ + संयोग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (काष्ठेन संयोगः = contact/association with a stick i.e., brushing with wood); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• दहेत्: would burn/destroy
• दहेत्: Kriyā (Main action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दह् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदम्

• आसप्तमम्: up to the seventh
• आसप्तमम्: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Extent)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आ + सप्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययभावे उपसर्ग ‘आ’ + ‘सप्तम’ (up to the seventh); क्रियाविशेषणम् (limit)

• कुलम्: family/lineage
• कुलम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A calendar-marked dawn in Kāśī: a priest instructs pilgrims not to use a tooth-cleaning twig on specific tithis and Sunday, emphasizing lineage protection; pilgrims hold alternative cleansing vessels.

Characters & Entities

• Tithi observances
• Ravivāra (Sunday)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Time (tithi and weekday) is sacred in Purāṇic dharma; aligning conduct with calendrical sanctity protects merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Though the rule is general, it is transmitted within Kāśī Khaṇḍa’s dharma-regimen for sacred living in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Avoid using a wooden tooth-stick on Pratipad, Amāvāsyā (Darśa), Ṣaṣṭhī, Navamī, and Sundays.