Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 198

Devanagari script

दानं कोटिगुणं सर्वं शुभं वा यदि वाशुभम् । यथा नदीनदाः सर्वे सागरे यान्ति संक्षयम्

Transliteration

dānaṃ koṭiguṇaṃ sarvaṃ śubhaṃ vā yadi vāśubham | yathā nadīnadāḥ sarve sāgare yānti saṃkṣayam

Translation

Tout don devient millionuple, que l’offrande soit excellente ou non, de même que tous les fleuves et rivières trouvent leur accomplissement en allant à l’océan.

Word by Word

• dānam: gift, donation
• dānam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन (nom/acc sg; here subject)

• koṭi-guṇam: a crore-fold (multiplied)
• koṭi-guṇam: Kartṛ-sāmānādhikaraṇa (Subject complement/कर्तृसमाना)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: koṭi (प्रातिपदिक) + guṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी: ‘कोट्याः गुणः’/‘कोटिगुणम्’ = ‘crore-fold’), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying dānam)

• sarvam: entire, all
• sarvam: Kartṛ-sāmānādhikaraṇa (Subject complement/कर्तृसमाना)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying dānam)

• śubham: auspicious, good
• śubham: Kartṛ-sāmānādhikaraṇa (Subject complement/कर्तृसमाना)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śubha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषण

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक अव्यय (disjunctive particle: or)

• yadi: if
• yadi: Sambandha (Condition/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्त-निर्देशक अव्यय (conditional particle: if)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक अव्यय (or)

• aśubham: inauspicious, bad
• aśubham: Kartṛ-sāmānādhikaraṇa (Subject complement/कर्तृसमाना)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-śubha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषण

• yathā: just as
• yathā: Sambandha (Simile marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमान/दृष्टान्त-वाचक अव्यय (as/just as)

• nadī-nadāḥ: rivers and streams
• nadī-nadāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nadī (प्रातिपदिक) + nada (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वन्द्व-समास (इतरेतर: नद्यश्च नदाश्च), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन (nominative plural)

• sarve: all
• sarve: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; विशेषण (qualifying nadī-nadāḥ)

• sāgare: in the ocean
• sāgare: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sāgara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन (locative singular)

• yānti: go, enter
• yānti: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yā (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present indicative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• saṃkṣayam: dissolution, end
• saṃkṣayam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃkṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन (accusative singular; goal/result)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Revā Khaṇḍa narrative style within Skanda Purāṇa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Eraṇḍī-saṅgama (contextual)

Type: sangam

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: King (contextual)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic tableau: many rivers converge into a vast ocean; in the foreground, pilgrims offer varied gifts—humble and rich—yet all are shown as transformed into radiant merit-streams merging into a single luminous expanse.

Characters & Entities

• Dāna
• Sāgara (ocean)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

At a sanctified setting, even small gifts gain immense spiritual potency due to the tīrtha’s power.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha domain, implied as the place where dāna becomes koṭiguṇa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A general injunction praising dāna at the tīrtha as yielding multiplied results, regardless of the gift’s scale.