Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 11

Devanagari script

यावदस्थीनि तिष्ठन्ति ब्रह्मतीर्थे च देहिनाम् । तावद्वर्षसहस्राणि देवलोके महीयते

Transliteration

yāvadasthīni tiṣṭhanti brahmatīrthe ca dehinām | tāvadvarṣasahasrāṇi devaloke mahīyate

Translation

Tant que les os d’un être demeurent à Brahmatīrtha, durant autant de milliers d’années il est honoré et exalté dans le monde des devas.

Word by Word

• yāvat: as long as
• yāvat: Sambandha (correlative marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्धाव्ययम् (correlative adverb) — ‘as long as/so long as’

• asthīni: bones
• asthīni: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asthi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• tiṣṭhanti: remain/stand
• tiṣṭhanti: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sthā (धाातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• brahmatīrthe: in the Brahma-tīrtha
• brahmatīrthe: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahma + tīrtha (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (brahmaṇaḥ tīrtham)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्ययम् (conjunction)

• dehinām: of embodied beings
• dehinām: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dehin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• tāvat: so long (for that duration)
• tāvat: Sambandha (correlative marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्धाव्ययम् (correlative adverb) — ‘so long/that long’

• varṣa-sahasrāṇi: thousands of years
• varṣa-sahasrāṇi: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa + sahasra (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (varṣāṇāṃ sahasrāṇi)

• devaloke: in the world of the gods
• devaloke: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva + loka (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (devānāṃ lokaḥ)

• mahīyate: is honored/glorified
• mahīyate: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: mah (धाातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; कर्मणि/भावे प्रयोगः (is honored/glorified)

Speaker

Śiva (deduced from adhyāya-context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Brahmatīrtha

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A serene riverbank tīrtha labeled Brahmatīrtha; relatives immerse a small urn of ashes/bones into the flowing Revā while devas above shower flowers, indicating devaloka honor lasting as long as the bones remain connected to the tīrtha.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmatīrtha
• Devaloka

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Contact with a revered tīrtha is portrayed as extending posthumous honor and merit beyond ordinary measures.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Brahmatīrtha is explicitly named.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, placing or consigning bodily remains (asthi) at Brahmatīrtha is praised for its spiritual result.