Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 140

Devanagari script

मत्स्योदर्यां हि ये स्नाता यत्रकुत्रापि मानवाः । कृतपिंडप्रदानास्ते न मातुरुदरेशयाः

Transliteration

matsyodaryāṃ hi ye snātā yatrakutrāpi mānavāḥ | kṛtapiṃḍapradānāste na māturudareśayāḥ

Translation

Indeed, those people—wherever they may be—who have bathed at Matsyodarī and offered the piṇḍa oblations do not again lie within a mother’s womb.

Word by Word

• मत्स्योदर्याम्: in Matsyodarī (place)
• मत्स्योदर्याम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मत्स्योदरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—मत्स्यस्य उदरम् (fish-belly) → स्थाननाम ‘Matsyodarī’

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; हेत्वर्थ/निश्चयार्थ-निपात (indeed/for)

• ये: who (those who)
• ये: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक-सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• स्नाताः: having bathed
• स्नाताः: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √स्ना (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; ‘having bathed’

• यत्रकुत्र: wherever
• यत्रकुत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र + कुत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; स्थानवाचक-अव्यय-युग्म (wherever)

• अपि: even
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण/समुच्चयार्थ (also/even)

• मानवाः: people
• मानवाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन

• कृतपिण्डप्रदानाः: having performed piṇḍa-offerings
• कृतपिण्डप्रदानाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत + पिण्ड + प्रदान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः—कृतं पिण्डप्रदानं येषाम् (those who have performed piṇḍa-offering)

• ते: they
• ते: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; निर्देश-सर्वनाम (demonstrative)

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध-निपात (negation)

• मातुः: of (their) mother
• मातुः: Sambandha (Possessor/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मातृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), एकवचन

• उदर-शयाः: womb-dwellers (in the mother’s belly)
• उदर-शयाः: Karta (Predicate nominative/कर्ता-समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उदर + शय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः—उदरे शयन्ते इति (those who lie in the womb)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśī Khaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Matsyodarī

Type: kund

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Pilgrims bathe in a calm sacred pool/ghāṭa named Matsyodarī; a priest on the bank guides piṇḍa offerings on darbha, with sesame and water libations; the mood is quiet, finality of rebirth-ending blessing conveyed by a luminous sky over Kāśī.

Characters & Entities

• Matsyodarī (tīrtha)
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• Piṇḍa-pradāna (śrāddha rite)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred bathing and ancestral offerings in Kāśī are portrayed as liberative acts that cut the cycle of rebirth.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Matsyodarī tīrtha in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna at Matsyodarī along with piṇḍa-pradāna (piṇḍa offering/śrāddha-related rite).