Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 97

Devanagari script

यस्य कोष्ठगतं चान्नं वेदाभ्यासेन जीर्यति । स तारयति दातारं दशपूर्वान्दशापरान्

Transliteration

yasya koṣṭhagataṃ cānnaṃ vedābhyāsena jīryati | sa tārayati dātāraṃ daśapūrvāndaśāparān

Translation

Celui dont le ventre « digère » la nourriture par la récitation et l’étude des Veda, celui-là délivre le donateur, sauvant dix générations avant et dix après.

Word by Word

• यस्य: whose
• यस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम (Genitive singular; ‘whose’)

• कोष्ठ-गतम्: present in the stomach
• कोष्ठ-गतम्: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: koṣṭha + gata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषण; कोष्ठे गतम् (gone into the stomach)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-निपात (conjunction)

• अन्नम्: food
• अन्नम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन (Neuter, Nominative, Singular)

• वेद-अभ्यासेन: by Vedic practice/recitation
• वेद-अभ्यासेन: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: veda + abhyāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन; वेदस्य अभ्यासेन (by practice/recitation of the Veda)

• जीर्यति: is digested
• जीर्यति: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jṝ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/लट्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद/परस्मैपद-प्रयोगः (commonly Ātmanepada in sense ‘is digested/decays’)

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन (Masculine, Nominative, Singular)

• तारयति: saves/delivers
• तारयति: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: tṝ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/लट्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; णिच्-प्रयोग (causative sense: ‘causes to cross/saves’)

• दातारम्: the giver/donor
• दातारम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dātṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Masculine, Accusative, Singular)

• दश-पूर्वान्: ten forefathers
• दश-पूर्वान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: daśa + pūrva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन; ‘दश’ संख्यापूर्वक-समास (ten predecessors)

• दश-अपरान्: ten descendants
• दश-अपरान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: daśa + apara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन; ‘दश’ संख्यापूर्वक-समास (ten successors)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A luminous śrotriya recites Veda as he eats the offered meal; the giver stands with folded hands; behind them, a stylized lineage tree shows ancestors and descendants being lifted upward by light.

Characters & Entities

• Veda
• dātā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The highest fruit of charity arises when the recipient is rooted in Vedic discipline; such giving becomes a vehicle of liberation for the giver’s lineage.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kāśī-khaṇḍa context frames the teaching, but the verse itself praises the merit of feeding Veda-practitioners rather than naming a site.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Encouragement for anna-dāna to those devoted to Veda-abhyāsa, describing the salvific benefit to the donor’s family line.