Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 68

Devanagari script

आहारमात्रं यो दद्यात्तत्र वेदविदां वरे । लक्षभोज्यं कृतं तेन तीर्थस्यास्य प्रभावतः

Transliteration

āhāramātraṃ yo dadyāttatra vedavidāṃ vare | lakṣabhojyaṃ kṛtaṃ tena tīrthasyāsya prabhāvataḥ

Translation

Ô le meilleur des connaisseurs du Veda, quiconque y offre ne fût-ce qu’une simple part de nourriture, par la puissance de ce tīrtha, c’est comme s’il avait nourri cent mille êtres.

Word by Word

• आहारमात्रम्: only food (a mere meal)
• आहारमात्रम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आहार + मात्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘आहारस्य मात्रम्’

• यः: who
• यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक

• दद्यात्: should give
• दद्यात्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• वेदविदाम्: of the knowers of the Veda
• वेदविदाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेदविद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• वरे: O best one
• वरे: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बोधनार्थे सप्तमी (vocative-like locative): ‘हे वरे’

• लक्षभोज्यम्: a hundred-thousand meals (as merit)
• लक्षभोज्यम्: Karma/Phala (Result/फल)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लक्ष + भोज्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘लक्षं भोज्यम्’ (लक्षपरिमाणं भोजनम्)

• कृतम्: is considered done; has been done
• कृतम्: Kriya (Predicate participle/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त-भूतकर्मणि (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• तेन: by him
• तेन: Kartr/Agent (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• तीर्थस्य: of the sacred place
• तीर्थस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• अस्य: of this
• अस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• प्रभावतः: due to the power (of it)
• प्रभावतः: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्रभावतः (अव्यय; प्रभाव-आधारित)
• Form: तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त-अव्यय (ablatival adverb): ‘प्रभावात्’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya narrative style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsakṣetra (general kṣetra-prabhāva)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Veda-vidāṃ vara (addressed as 'best among knowers of the Veda')

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At Prabhāsa, a pilgrim offers a modest leaf-bowl of cooked rice to a learned brāhmaṇa; behind them rise temple spires and the sea-breeze stirs flags, suggesting the unseen multiplication of merit.

Characters & Entities

• Tīrtha
• Dāna
• Anna-dāna
• Veda-vid (listener addressed)
• Prabhāsa-kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Charity offered in a sanctified place is magnified; even small giving, when done with faith, yields vast merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra’s tīrtha (in the Brahmakuṇḍa glorification context).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Āhāra-dāna/anna-dāna (giving food) at the tīrtha, said to equal feeding 100,000 by the tīrtha’s prabhāva.