Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 98

Devanagari script

न जानाति दिनं पित्र्यं पक्षमेकं निरन्तरम् । अन्यत्र भुंक्ते विप्रोऽसौ क्षयाहेऽपि समागते

Transliteration

na jānāti dinaṃ pitryaṃ pakṣamekaṃ nirantaram | anyatra bhuṃkte vipro'sau kṣayāhe'pi samāgate

Translation

Ce brāhmane ne connaît même pas le jour des ancêtres ni la quinzaine continue assignée aux Pitṛ. Même lorsque survient le kṣayāha (jour lunaire retranché), il mange ailleurs, sans révérence pour les rites dus aux aïeux.

Word by Word

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय (negative particle)

• jānāti: knows/recognizes
• jānāti: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jñā (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन (present indicative, 3rd singular)

• dinam: day
• dinam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dina (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (neuter, accusative, singular)

• pitryam: ancestral (for the Pitṛs)
• pitryam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pitrya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण (neuter, accusative, singular; qualifying ‘dinam’)

• pakṣam: fortnight
• pakṣam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (masculine, accusative, singular)

• ekam: one
• ekam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण (masculine, accusative, singular; qualifying ‘pakṣam’)

• nirantaram: continuously
• nirantaram: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nirantara (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययीभाववत् प्रयोग)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय (adverb: continuously)

• anyatra: elsewhere/otherwise
• anyatra: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anyatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देश/विषयवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: elsewhere/otherwise)

• bhuṃkte: eats
• bhuṃkte: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhuj (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपद, प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन (present indicative, 3rd singular, ātmanepada)

• vipraḥ: the Brahmin
• vipraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (masculine, nominative, singular)

• asau: that (man)
• asau: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता-समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adas (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (pronoun; masculine, nominative, singular)

• kṣayāhe: on the day of kṣaya (inauspicious/waning day)
• kṣayāhe: Adhikaraṇa (Temporal locus/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक) + aha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास: ‘क्षयस्य अहः’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन (neuter, locative, singular)

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अपि-कारक-अव्यय (particle: even/also)

• samāgate: when (it) has come
• samāgate: Adhikaraṇa (Temporal locus/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam√āgam (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन (locative singular; ‘when arrived/when occurred’)

Speaker

Unspecified narrator within Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa (deduced: Purāṇic narrator addressing the listener in the Vastrāpathakṣetra-māhātmya context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha (Prabhāsa-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: nṛpottama

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A brāhmaṇa ignores the marked pitṛ-day; a calendar/pañcāṅga motif is shown; he eats at another house while elders gesture toward a prepared śrāddha space left unused; the narrator frames it as a moral lapse.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Neglect of Pitṛ-dharma (ancestral observances) is portrayed as a serious lapse for a dvija; reverence to forefathers sustains dharma and auspiciousness.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage occurs in the Vastrāpathakṣetra-māhātmya within the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, situating the teaching in the sanctity-field of Prabhāsa and its sub-tīrtha Vastrāpatha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Observance of Pitṛ-related days/fortnight (pitrya dina, pitṛ-pakṣa) and proper conduct regarding food/rites on special lunar-day conditions (kṣaya-tithi).