Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 68
अस्माहके महाराज पितरश्च पितामहाः । वायुभूता निरीक्षन्ते आगच्छन्तं स्वगोत्रजम्
asmāhake mahārāja pitaraśca pitāmahāḥ | vāyubhūtā nirīkṣante āgacchantaṃ svagotrajam
Ô grand roi, nos pères et nos aïeux—devenus subtils comme le vent—guettent l’arrivée de celui qui est né dans leur propre lignée.
Narrator within Revā-khaṇḍa (traditional attribution: Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa addressing ṛṣis)
Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (general)
Type: ghat
Listener: Mahārāja (king)
Scene: Invisible pitṛs, subtle as wind, hover near a riverbank tīrtha, gazing toward a pilgrim approaching with water-pot and kuśa, the river shimmering as a liminal threshold between worlds.
FAQs
The Purāṇic vision affirms an ongoing bond between descendants and ancestors, who await remembrance and ritual support.
The Revā tīrtha context of Adhyāya 146, where ancestral rites are especially efficacious.
It implies the duty of descendants to come to the tīrtha and perform ancestral rites, as the Pitṛs await them.