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Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 39

यदा कर्मक्षयस्ते स्यात्तदा त्वं च मरिष्यसि । मरिष्यमाणप्रेतो हि मृतप्रेतस्य शोचति

yadā karmakṣayaste syāttadā tvaṃ ca mariṣyasi | mariṣyamāṇapreto hi mṛtapretasya śocati

Lorsque ton capital de karma sera épuisé, alors toi aussi tu mourras. En vérité, un être lui-même voué à la mort pleure un autre déjà devenu esprit des défunts.

yadāwhen
yadā:
Kāla (Time)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootyadā (अव्यय)
Formकालवाचक-अव्यय (relative adverb: when)
karma-kṣayaḥthe exhaustion of karma
karma-kṣayaḥ:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootkarma (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (karmasya kṣayaḥ)
teyour
te:
Sambandha (Genitive relation)
TypeNoun
Rootyusmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Formषष्ठी/चतुर्थी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अत्र षष्ठी (your)
syātwould be / should occur
syāt:
Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootas (अस् धातु)
Formविधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन
tadāthen
tadā:
Kāla (Time)
TypeIndeclinable
Roottadā (अव्यय)
Formकालवाचक-अव्यय (then)
tvamyou
tvam:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootyusmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Formप्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
caalso
ca:
Sambandha (Connector)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootca (अव्यय)
Formसमुच्चय-अव्यय
mariṣyasiyou will die
mariṣyasi:
Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootmṛ (मृ धातु)
Formलृट् (Simple Future), मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद
mariṣyamāṇa-pretaḥthe dying preta (one about to die)
mariṣyamāṇa-pretaḥ:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootmṛ (मृ धातु) + śyamāna (शानच् कृदन्त) + preta (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेष्य-विशेषणभावेन कर्मधारय (mariṣyamāṇaḥ pretaḥ = a ‘preta’ who is about to die)
hiindeed / for
hi:
Sambandha (Discourse particle)
TypeIndeclinable
Roothi (अव्यय)
Formनिपात (emphatic/causal particle)
mṛta-pretaस्यof the dead preta
mṛta-pretaस्य:
Sambandha (Genitive relation)
TypeNoun
Rootmṛta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक) + preta (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारय (mṛtaḥ pretaḥ = dead preta)
śocatigrieves / laments
śocati:
Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootśuc (शुच् धातु)
Formलट् (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

An instructing sage/teacher figure in the Setukhaṇḍa dialogue (contextual; exact speaker not in snippet)

Tirtha: Setu (Setubandha/Rāmeśvara-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Listener: dvija

Scene: A stark teaching scene: the sage points to a funeral pyre smoke or a skull symbol, while the dvija realizes his own mortality; a shadowy ‘preta’ motif is suggested allegorically, not grotesquely.

K
Karma
P
Preta

FAQs

Remember your own mortality and act wisely; grief becomes misplaced when one ignores that death is universal and karmically timed.

Not directly; the verse is part of the Setukhaṇḍa instruction leading toward rites associated with Rāmasetu.

No explicit ritual is stated here; it sets the rationale for performing proper preta rites rather than indulging in lamentation.