Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

एतस्मात्कारणाच्छ्राद्धं जारजातस्य तद्वृथा

Transliteration

etasmātkāraṇācchrāddhaṃ jārajātasya tadvṛthā

Translation

Pour cette raison, le śrāddha accompli par celui qui est né de l’adultère (jāra-jāta) est, en vérité, vain et sans fruit.

Word by Word

• एतस्मात्: from this/for this reason
• एतस्मात्: Apadana/Hetu (Source-Cause/अपादान-हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमीविभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन

• कारणात्: because of the cause
• कारणात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कारण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमीविभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन; हेत्वर्थे

• श्राद्धम्: śrāddha rite
• श्राद्धम्: Pratipadya (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्राद्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc.), एकवचन; अत्र विधेय (predicate)

• जारजातस्य: of one born from an adulterer (jāra-born)
• जारजातस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जार-जात (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठीविभक्ति (Genitive/6th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः: जारेण जातः

• तत्: that
• तत्: Anuvrtti (Correlative/अनुवृत्ति)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc.), एकवचन; अत्र 'श्राद्धम्' इत्यस्य अनुवादक/अनुचिन्तक (that)

• वृथा: in vain
• वृथा: Kriyavisheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वृथा (अव्यय)
• Form: रीतिवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: in vain)

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (chapter context)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (outer frame; immediate interlocutors in this section include Ānartā and Bhartṛyajña)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A restrained domestic śrāddha setting: a householder before a pitṛ-śilā/kuśa arrangement, with brāhmaṇas seated; the mood is cautionary—scriptural injunction being pronounced about fruitlessness when adhikāra is lacking.

Characters & Entities

• Śrāddha
• Pitṛs (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Rites are portrayed as depending on dharmic qualification and order; ritual without the required ethical foundation is said to lose efficacy.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this shloka; it addresses śrāddha validity within the chapter’s dharma discussion.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Śrāddha is explicitly mentioned, with a restriction: it is declared ineffective when performed by a jāra-jāta (born of adultery), per the verse’s framework.