Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 785

Devanagari script

तस्योद्देशेन यो दद्याद्धेनुं श्रद्धासमन्वितः । न तस्यान्वयजातोऽपि व्याधिना परिगृह्यते

Transliteration

tasyoddeśena yo dadyāddhenuṃ śraddhāsamanvitaḥ | na tasyānvayajāto'pi vyādhinā parigṛhyate

Translation

Quiconque, avec foi, offre une vache en son nom (pour l’amour de ce saint), même un être né dans sa lignée ne sera pas saisi par la maladie.

Word by Word

• tasya: of that (tīrtha/deity)
• tasya: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Genitive ‘of that/of him’

• uddeśena: by (his) designation/intention
• uddeśena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: uddeśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Instrumental ‘by the designation/intention (in his name)’

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; relative pronoun ‘who’

• dadyāt: should give
• dadyāt: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dā (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; ‘should give’

• dhenum: a cow
• dhenum: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhenu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Accusative singular

• śraddhā-samanvitaḥ: endowed with faith
• śraddhā-samanvitaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier of subject/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śraddhā (प्रातिपदिक) + samanvita (कृदन्त, क्त; सम्+अन्वि/अन्वि)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘śraddhayā samanvitaḥ’ (endowed with faith)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation)

• tasya: of him
• tasya: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Genitive ‘of him/of that person’

• anvaya-jātaḥ: a descendant
• anvaya-jātaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anvaya (प्रातिपदिक) + jāta (कृदन्त, क्त; jan धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘anvaye jātaḥ’ (born in the lineage/descendant)

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle) ‘even/also’

• vyādhinā: by disease
• vyādhinā: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vyādhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; Instrumental ‘by disease’

• parigṛhyate: is seized/afflicted
• parigṛhyate: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari-grah (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (वर्तमान/Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive sense): ‘is seized/afflicted’

Speaker

Narratorial voice (Purāṇic narrator describing dāna-phala within the māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ratnāditya/Ravi tīrtha (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis/śaunaka-ādi (implied traditional frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee, hands joined, offers a decorated cow with calf to a brāhmaṇa near a sun-shrine/tīrtha; attendants hold water-pot and saṅkalpa leaves; the background suggests a Gujarati sacred landscape.

Characters & Entities

• Dāna (cow-gift)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Faith-filled charity offered to a sacred cause generates protective merit that extends beyond the donor to the family line.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse belongs to the Ratnāditya/Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya stream within Nāgarakhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Go-dāna (donation of a cow) performed with śraddhā, dedicated in the name/for the sake of the revered sacred presence.