Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 77

Devanagari script

प्रतिपद्दर्शषष्ठीषु नवम्यां रविवासरे । दंतानां काष्ठसंयोगो दहेदासप्तमं कुलम्

Transliteration

pratipaddarśaṣaṣṭhīṣu navamyāṃ ravivāsare | daṃtānāṃ kāṣṭhasaṃyogo dahedāsaptamaṃ kulam

Translation

Au premier tithi, au jour d’amāvasyā (nouvelle lune), au sixième, au neuvième, et les dimanches, l’usage d’un bâtonnet de bois pour se nettoyer les dents est dit consumer la lignée jusqu’à la septième génération.

Word by Word

• प्रतिपत्-दर्श-षष्ठीषु: on pratipad, new-moon day, and the sixth (tithi)
• प्रतिपत्-दर्श-षष्ठीषु: Adhikaraṇa (Time/Occasion)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रतिपत् + दर्श + षष्ठी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व (प्रतिपत् च दर्शः च षष्ठी च); स्त्रीलिङ्ग (समाहार/बहुवचन-प्रयोगः), सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), बहुवचन

• नवम्याम्: on the ninth (tithi)
• नवम्याम्: Adhikaraṇa (Time)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नवमी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• रविवासरे: on Sunday
• रविवासरे: Adhikaraṇa (Time)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रवि + वासर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (रवेः वासरः = Sunday); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• दन्तानाम्: of the teeth
• दन्तानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दन्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन

• काष्ठसंयोगः: contact with a wooden stick (tooth-stick use)
• काष्ठसंयोगः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काष्ठ + संयोग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (काष्ठेन संयोगः = contact/association with a stick i.e., brushing with wood); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• दहेत्: would burn/destroy
• दहेत्: Kriyā (Main action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दह् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदम्

• आसप्तमम्: up to the seventh
• आसप्तमम्: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Extent)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आ + सप्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययभावे उपसर्ग ‘आ’ + ‘सप्तम’ (up to the seventh); क्रियाविशेषणम् (limit)

• कुलम्: family/lineage
• कुलम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A calendar-marked dawn in Kāśī: a priest instructs pilgrims not to use a tooth-cleaning twig on specific tithis and Sunday, emphasizing lineage protection; pilgrims hold alternative cleansing vessels.

Characters & Entities

• Tithi observances
• Ravivāra (Sunday)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Time (tithi and weekday) is sacred in Purāṇic dharma; aligning conduct with calendrical sanctity protects merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Though the rule is general, it is transmitted within Kāśī Khaṇḍa’s dharma-regimen for sacred living in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Avoid using a wooden tooth-stick on Pratipad, Amāvāsyā (Darśa), Ṣaṣṭhī, Navamī, and Sundays.