Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 4

Devanagari script

पिण्डदानं जलं तात ऋणमुत्तममुच्यते । पित्ःणां तद्धि वै प्रोक्तमृणं दैवमतः परम्

Transliteration

piṇḍadānaṃ jalaṃ tāta ṛṇamuttamamucyate | pitḥṇāṃ taddhi vai proktamṛṇaṃ daivamataḥ param

Translation

ഹേ താതാ! പിണ്ഡദാനവും ജലദാനവും ഋണമോചനത്തിലെ പരമോന്നതമെന്ന് പറയുന്നു; കാരണം അതുതന്നെ പിതൃകളോടുള്ള ദൈവഋണമെന്നായി പ്രസ്താവിതം, അതിനപ്പുറം ഒന്നുമില്ല.

Word by Word

• पिण्डदानम्: offering of rice-balls (piṇḍa)
• पिण्डदानम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिण्ड-दान (प्रातिपदिक; पिण्ड + दान)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• जलम्: water (libation)
• जलम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समुच्चित-कर्ता (with पिण्डदानम्)

• तात: O dear one; O son
• तात: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तात (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, संबोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

• ऋणम्: a debt
• ऋणम्: Pradhana (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विधेय (predicate noun)

• उत्तमम्: the best; highest
• उत्तमम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (ऋणम्)

• उच्यते: is said; is called
• उच्यते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive)

• पितॄणाम्: of the ancestors
• पितॄणाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम; अनुवादक (refers to previous)

• हि: indeed
• हि: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात—हेतौ/निश्चयार्थे (particle: indeed)

• वै: certainly
• वै: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात—अवधारणार्थे (emphatic particle)

• प्रोक्तम्: declared; stated
• प्रोक्तम्: Kriya (Predicative/क्रियाविशेषणभाव)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-वच् (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मणि-भाव (as predicate adjective of तत्)

• ऋणम्: a debt
• ऋणम्: Pradhana (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; अप्पोजिशन (apposition to तत्)

• दैवम्: divine
• दैवम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दैव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (ऋणम्)

• अतः: therefore
• अतः: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अतः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; हेत्वर्थक/तस्मात्-अर्थक (therefore)

• परम्: supreme; beyond (all)
• परम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (ऋणम्/दैवम्)

Speaker

Unspecified in snippet (contextual narrator within Revā Khaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Pitṛṇām-ṛṇa-mocana tīrtha (contextual)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Addressed as 'tāta' within the discourse; overall listener is the king

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Riverbank śrāddha: devotee placing rice-balls (piṇḍas) on darbha, offering water with sesame; pitṛs receiving in subtle form; calm, sacred domesticity at a ghat.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs
• Piṇḍa (piṇḍadāna)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ancestral obligations are treated as sacred; piṇḍadāna and water-offerings are upheld as a supreme form of dharmic repayment.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse continues the Revā Khaṇḍa tīrtha-teaching without naming a single site; the merit is tied to performing these rites in the sacred geography of Revā.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Piṇḍadāna (offering piṇḍas) and jala-tarpaṇa (water libations) to the Pitṛs.