Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

अहुताशी ह्यसंतुष्टः सर्वाशी सर्वविक्रयी । कदर्या नास्तिकाः क्रूराः कृतघ्ना ये द्विजायः

Transliteration

ahutāśī hyasaṃtuṣṭaḥ sarvāśī sarvavikrayī | kadaryā nāstikāḥ krūrāḥ kṛtaghnā ye dvijāyaḥ

Translation

ആഹുതി‑അർപ്പണം കൂടാതെ ഭക്ഷിക്കുന്നവർ, എപ്പോഴും അസന്തുഷ്ടർ, എല്ലാം ഭക്ഷിക്കുന്നവർ, എല്ലാം വിൽക്കുന്നവർ, കദര്യർ, നാസ്തികർ, ക്രൂരർ, കൃതഘ്നർ—ഇത്തരം ദ്വിജർ പതിതർ ആകുന്നു।

Word by Word

• अहुताशी: one who eats without offering (to gods/guests)
• अहुताशी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अ + हुत + आशिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (अहुतं अश्नाति)

• हि: indeed
• हि: Discourse particle/निपात
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात

• असंतुष्टः: unsatisfied
• असंतुष्टः: Predicate/विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ + संतुष्ट (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; तुष् धातु, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; नञ्-समास/उपसर्गयुक्त

• सर्वाशी: one who eats everything/anything
• सर्वाशी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व + आशिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (सर्वं अश्नाति)

• सर्वविक्रयी: one who sells everything
• सर्वविक्रयी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व + विक्रयिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (सर्वं विक्रीणाति)

• कदर्याः: miserly
• कदर्याः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कदर्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• नास्तिकाः: atheists/deniers
• नास्तिकाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नास्तिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• क्रूराः: cruel
• क्रूराः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रूर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• कृतघ्नाः: ungrateful (destroyers of good deeds)
• कृतघ्नाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृत + घ्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः (कृतं हन्ति/न जानाति)

• ये: who (those who)
• ये: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• द्विजायः: Brahmins (twice-born)
• द्विजायः: Apposition/सम्बोधन-समानााधिकरण
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; पाठभेदः सम्भाव्यः—‘द्विजाः’ इति सामान्यरूपम्

Speaker

Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā), inferred

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (general)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: sages/pilgrims

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A brāhmaṇa eating hastily without offering, a marketplace scene of ‘selling everything’, a cruel act and an ungrateful turning away from a benefactor; in the background, the river and a shrine invite repentance.

Characters & Entities

• Dvija

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A dharmic life sanctifies consumption and livelihood through offering, restraint, gratitude, and compassion; their opposites are portrayed as spiritual downfall.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Revā (Narmadā) is the tīrtha-context wherein even such degraded persons are later said to find release.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Offering before eating (huta/ahuti—acting in a spirit of yajña and hospitality) is implied by the critique of ahutāśī.