Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 68

Devanagari script

अस्माहके महाराज पितरश्च पितामहाः । वायुभूता निरीक्षन्ते आगच्छन्तं स्वगोत्रजम्

Transliteration

asmāhake mahārāja pitaraśca pitāmahāḥ | vāyubhūtā nirīkṣante āgacchantaṃ svagotrajam

Translation

大王よ、われらの父祖と祖父たちは、風のごとく微妙なる身となり、同じ一族に生まれた者の来臨を見守っている。

Word by Word

• अस्माहके: of us / our
• अस्माहके: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन (Plural); सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक (pronoun stem) — ‘of us/our’ (अस्माकम्-रूपेण)

• महाराज: O great king
• महाराज: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन (Singular)

• पितरः: fathers / ancestors
• पितरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• पितामहाः: grandfathers / forefathers
• पितामहाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितामह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• वायुभूताः: having become (like) wind / in airy form
• वायुभूताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वायु (प्रातिपदिक) + भूत (कृदन्त, भू-धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural); भूत (क्त-प्रत्यय, past passive participle) — ‘become’ + वायु-सम्बन्धः (like wind)

• निरीक्षन्ते: they behold / look at
• निरीक्षन्ते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-ईक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन (Plural), आत्मनेपद (Ātmanepada)

• आगच्छन्तम्: the one who is coming
• आगच्छन्तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ-गम् (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्यय (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन (Singular)

• स्वगोत्रजम्: a kinsman of their own lineage
• स्वगोत्रजम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व (प्रातिपदिक) + गोत्र (प्रातिपदिक) + ज (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन (Singular); स्व-गोत्र-सम्बन्धी जनः (born in one’s own lineage)

Speaker

Narrator within Revā-khaṇḍa (traditional attribution: Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa addressing ṛṣis)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (general)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahārāja (king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Invisible pitṛs, subtle as wind, hover near a riverbank tīrtha, gazing toward a pilgrim approaching with water-pot and kuśa, the river shimmering as a liminal threshold between worlds.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs
• Pitāmahas
• Gotra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Purāṇic vision affirms an ongoing bond between descendants and ancestors, who await remembrance and ritual support.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Revā tīrtha context of Adhyāya 146, where ancestral rites are especially efficacious.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It implies the duty of descendants to come to the tīrtha and perform ancestral rites, as the Pitṛs await them.