Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 34
मृत्युकाले प्रयच्छंति ये धेनुं ब्राह्मणाय वै । तस्याः पुच्छं समाश्रित्य ते तरंति च तां नृप
mṛtyukāle prayacchaṃti ye dhenuṃ brāhmaṇāya vai | tasyāḥ pucchaṃ samāśritya te taraṃti ca tāṃ nṛpa
Ceux qui, à l’heure de la mort, offrent une vache à un brāhmane : s’agrippant à la queue de cette vache, ils traversent ce (Vaitaraṇī), ô roi.
Skanda (deduced)
Tirtha: Vaitaraṇī
Type: river
Listener: ‘nṛpa’ (king) addressed; didactic counsel to a ruler/elite listener
Scene: A dying donor offers a cow to a Brāhmaṇa; in the subtle realm, the departed clings to the cow’s tail and is drawn safely across the dreadful river.
FAQs
Charity aligned with dharma—especially go-dāna—becomes spiritual support at the most perilous transition, death.
The verse highlights the mythic Vaitaraṇī crossing on Yama’s route; it is a doctrinal ‘sacred geography’ of the afterlife.
Go-dāna (donation of a cow) to a Brāhmaṇa at the time of death is praised as a means to cross Vaitaraṇī.
Read Skanda Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.