Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

तस्मिंस्तीर्थे नरश्रेष्ठ सद्गतिं समवाप्नुयात् । न्यायोपात्तधनेनैव दारुपाषाणकेष्टकैः

Transliteration

tasmiṃstīrthe naraśreṣṭha sadgatiṃ samavāpnuyāt | nyāyopāttadhanenaiva dārupāṣāṇakeṣṭakaiḥ

Translation

ഹേ നരശ്രേഷ്ഠാ! ആ തീർത്ഥത്തിൽ അവൻ സദ്ഗതി പ്രാപിക്കുന്നു—ന്യായമായി സമ്പാദിച്ച ധനത്തോടെ, മരം, കല്ല്, ഇഷ്ടിക എന്നിവകൊണ്ട് (ക്ഷേത്രം) പണിതാൽ।

Word by Word

• तस्मिन्: in that
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; निर्देशार्थ

• तीर्थे: pilgrimage place
• तीर्थे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• नरश्रेष्ठ: O best of men
• नरश्रेष्ठ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर + श्रेष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक-द्वय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (श्रेष्ठः नरः)

• सद्गतिम्: good destiny
• सद्गतिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत् + गति (प्रातिपदिक-द्वय)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मधारय (सत्-गति)

• समवाप्नुयात्: may attain
• समवाप्नुयात्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अव् (धातु) उपसर्ग: सम्+अव; (समवाप्नोति)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• न्यायोपात्तधनेन: with wealth acquired lawfully
• न्यायोपात्तधनेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: न्याय + उपात्त + धन (प्रातिपदिक-त्रय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; समासः: तत्पुरुष (न्यायेन उपात्तं धनं येन)

• एव: indeed/only
• एव: Discourse/Particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपातः (restrictive/emphatic)

• दारु: with wood
• दारु: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दारु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन (समाहार-समुच्चयार्थे)

• पाषाण: with stones
• पाषाण: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाषाण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन (समाहार-समुच्चयार्थे)

• इष्टकैः: with bricks
• इष्टकैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इष्टका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya (contextual address: naraśreṣṭha)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (unspecified sub-tīrtha)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: naraśreṣṭha (addressed interlocutor; likely a king/elite listener in frame narrative)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A patron offers stacks of bricks, dressed stone blocks, and timber at a riverside shrine site; a scribe records donations; a priest blesses the materials; the patron’s hands are shown in añjali, signifying purity and rightful intent.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Religious works must be funded by righteous earnings; such dharmic giving at a tīrtha leads to sadgati (auspicious destiny).

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The same Revā Khaṇḍa tīrtha under discussion (Karoḍeśvara/related shrine precinct).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Temple/shrine construction using lawful wealth and materials like wood, stone, and bricks.