Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 101

Devanagari script

कराभ्यां बद्धमुष्टिभ्यामास्ते पश्यन्नुमामुखम् । ततोऽपरे तुलाभागेन्यसेयुर्द्विजपुंगवाः

Transliteration

karābhyāṃ baddhamuṣṭibhyāmāste paśyannumāmukham | tato'pare tulābhāgenyaseyurdvijapuṃgavāḥ

Translation

Les deux mains serrées en poings, qu’il s’asseye en contemplant le visage d’Umā. Puis, sur l’autre plateau de la balance, les plus éminents brāhmaṇas déposeront les offrandes prescrites.

Word by Word

• karābhyām: with the hands
• karābhyām: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), द्विवचन; English: Instrumental dual ‘with (two) hands’

• baddhamuṣṭibhyām: with clenched fists
• baddhamuṣṭibhyām: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: baddha (कृदन्त; √bandh बन्ध्) + muṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), द्विवचन; कर्मधारयः ‘बद्धे मुṣṭī’; English: Instrumental dual; ‘with clenched fists’

• āste: sits
• āste: Kriya (Verbal predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √ās (आस् धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; English: Present indicative, 3rd person singular, middle ‘sits/remains’

• paśyan: seeing
• paśyan: Karta (Agent of participle/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √paś (पश् धातु) (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; ‘आस्ते’ इत्यस्य सहायक-क्रिया; English: Present active participle nominative singular ‘seeing’

• umāmukham: Uma’s face
• umāmukham: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: umā (प्रातिपदिक) + mukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः ‘उमायाः मुखम्’; English: Accusative singular; ‘Uma’s face’

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kala/Anukrama (Temporal sequence/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रम/अपादानार्थक (then/from there); English: Indeclinable ‘then/thereupon’

• apare: others
• apare: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: apara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; English: Nominative plural ‘others’

• tulābhāgena: with a portion of the balance
• tulābhāgena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tulā (प्रातिपदिक) + bhāga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः ‘तुलायाः भागः’; English: Instrumental singular ‘by/with a portion of the scale’

• nyaseyuḥ: would place
• nyaseyuḥ: Kriya (Verbal predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni-√as (अस्/अस्य् धातु ‘to place’)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद; English: Optative, 3rd person plural ‘would place/should place’

• dvijapuṃgavāḥ: excellent Brahmins
• dvijapuṃgavāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक) + puṃgava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः ‘द्विजानां पुंगवाः’; English: Nominative plural ‘bulls among the twice-born (excellent Brahmins)’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Āvantya Khaṇḍa, Revā Khaṇḍa instructional passage)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-tīra (Narmadā bank) tulā-dāna setting

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee sits beside a large balance; hands clenched in disciplined stillness; eyes fixed on a serene Umā icon; brāhmaṇas place offerings on the opposite pan with ritual gravity.

Characters & Entities

• Umā
• Dvijapuṅgavas
• Tulā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Charity is to be performed with devotional focus—here centered on Umā—while learned officiants uphold correct procedure.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is part of Revā Khaṇḍa’s Narmadā-region dharma instructions; it emphasizes rite-performance rather than naming a single tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The donor sits in a prescribed posture, contemplates Umā, and Brāhmaṇas place the dāna-items onto the other pan of the scale.