Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 64

Devanagari script

देवखाते नरः स्नात्वा पिण्डदानादिसत्क्रियाम् । यां करोति नृपश्रेष्ठ तामक्षयफलां विदुः

Transliteration

devakhāte naraḥ snātvā piṇḍadānādisatkriyām | yāṃ karoti nṛpaśreṣṭha tāmakṣayaphalāṃ viduḥ

Translation

王の中の最勝者よ、デーヴァカータ（Devakhāta）にて沐浴した後、人が行ういかなる功徳の儀礼—ピンダ（piṇḍa）の供養などの聖なる行—も、その果報は尽きぬものと知られる。

Word by Word

• देवखाते: in/at Devakhāta (sacred tank/place)
• देवखाते: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव + खात (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन (Singular); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: ‘देवानां खातम्’/‘देवस्य खातम्’ (a sacred excavation/tank)

• नरः: a man
• नरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन (Singular)

• स्नात्वा: having bathed
• स्नात्वा: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √स्ना (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (Absolutive/Gerund), अव्ययभाव (indeclinable participle)

• पिण्डदानादिसत्क्रियाम्: the rite such as offering piṇḍas, etc.
• पिण्डदानादिसत्क्रियाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिण्डदान + आदि + सत्क्रिया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular); समासः: (i) पिण्डदान (कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष-प्रायः: ‘पिण्डस्य दानम्’), (ii) पिण्डदानादि (अव्ययीभाव-प्रायः ‘आदि’ सहित ‘etc.’), (iii) पिण्डदानादि-सत्क्रिया (तत्पुरुषः: ‘पिण्डदानादेः सत्क्रिया’)

• याम्: which
• याम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular); सम्बन्धवाचक सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• करोति: does/performs
• करोति: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कृ (धातु)
• Form: लट् लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद (Parasmaipada)

• नृपश्रेष्ठ: O best of kings
• नृपश्रेष्ठ: Sambodhana (Vocative/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप + श्रेष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन (Singular); कर्मधारयः: ‘श्रेष्ठः नृपः’

• ताम्: that (rite)
• ताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular); सर्वनाम (correlative)

• अक्षयफलाम्: having imperishable fruit
• अक्षयफलाम्: Karma (Object complement/कर्मपूरक)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अक्षय + फल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular); विशेषण (qualifying ‘ताम्’/‘सत्क्रियाम्’); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: ‘अक्षयं फलम् यस्याः सा’ (sense close to bahuvrīhi, but used adjectivally as determinative)

• विदुः: they know/consider
• विदुः: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √विद् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन (Plural), परस्मैपद (Parasmaipada)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic instruction to a king)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Devakhāta

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nṛpaśreṣṭha (best of kings)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim-king and attendants at a stepped riverbank (khāta/ghāṭa), performing snāna; then a priest guides piṇḍadāna with sesame and rice-balls on darbha, with the Revā flowing beside.

Characters & Entities

• Devakhāta
• piṇḍadāna

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Rites performed at a sanctified tīrtha become spiritually amplified, producing akṣaya (undiminishing) merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Devakhāta, a sacred bathing-place praised within the Revā Khaṇḍa’s pilgrimage geography.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (ritual bathing) followed by piṇḍadāna and related satkriyās (proper religious rites), especially aligned with śrāddha-type offerings.