Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 39

Devanagari script

कृतमायतनं दद्यात्क्रमाच्छतगुणं फलम् । कलशं तत्र चारोप्य एकविंशत्कुलैर्युतः

Transliteration

kṛtamāyatanaṃ dadyātkramācchataguṇaṃ phalam | kalaśaṃ tatra cāropya ekaviṃśatkulairyutaḥ

Translation

If one donates a completed shrine (āyatana), the fruit increases in due order a hundredfold. And having placed the consecration-pot (kalaśa) upon it, one becomes linked with—and brings benefit to—twenty-one lineages.

Word by Word

• कृतम्: made/built
• कृतम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृ (धातु)-क्त, कृदन्त ‘कृत’
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; ‘made/built’ (qualifying ‘आयतनम्’)

• आयतनम्: a shrine/abode
• आयतनम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आयतन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• दद्यात्: should give/donate
• दद्यात्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• क्रमात्: gradually/in order
• क्रमात्: Sambandha (Adverbial Ablative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावार्थे ‘in due order/gradually’

• शतगुणम्: hundredfold
• शतगुणम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शत + गुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; ‘hundredfold’ (qualifying ‘फलम्’)

• फलम्: fruit/result
• फलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: फल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• कलशम्: a pot/vessel
• कलशम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कलश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक/adverb of place)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय/conjunction)

• आरोप्य: having placed
• आरोप्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ + रुह् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (Gerund/absolutive), अव्ययभाव; ‘having placed/raised’

• एकविंशत्: twenty-one
• एकविंशत्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एकविंशत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्याशब्द; ‘twenty-one’ (qualifying ‘कुलैः’)

• कुलैः: with families/lineages
• कुलैः: Sahakarana/Association (Instrumental/सह)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• युतः: endowed/associated
• युतः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: युज् (धातु)-क्त, कृदन्त ‘युत’
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; ‘endowed/connected’ (predicate adjective of implied agent)

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa Sūta (deduced: Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative frame)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahāsena (Skanda)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A donor offers a newly completed stone shrine to Śiva; artisans place a shining golden kalaśa atop the śikhara; a subtle aura links the donor to a chain of 21 ancestors/descendants.

Characters & Entities

• Āyatana (shrine)
• Kalaśa
• Kula (lineage)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Building and gifting sacred infrastructure for Śiva is praised as a massively amplifying act of dharma with wide-reaching familial merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No particular tīrtha is specified; the teaching applies broadly to Śaiva temple-building and consecration.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Dāna of a completed āyatana (shrine) and placing a kalaśa (consecration pot) upon it.