Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 65

Devanagari script

विशेषाच्छुक्लपक्षे चेत्सूर्यवारेण सप्तमी । उपोष्य यो नरो भक्त्या रात्रौ कुर्वीत जागरम्

Transliteration

viśeṣācchuklapakṣe cetsūryavāreṇa saptamī | upoṣya yo naro bhaktyā rātrau kurvīta jāgaram

Translation

വിശേഷമായി ശുക്ലപക്ഷത്തിൽ ഞായറാഴ്ചയോടുകൂടി സപ്തമി വന്നാൽ—ഭക്തിയോടെ ഉപവാസമിരുന്ന് രാത്രിയിൽ ജാഗരണം ചെയ്യുന്ന പുരുഷൻ.

Word by Word

• विशेषात्: especially
• विशेषात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विशेष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन; हेत्वर्थे (in the sense of ‘especially/by reason’)

• शुक्लपक्षे: in the bright fortnight
• शुक्लपक्षे: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शुक्ल + पक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—शुक्लः पक्षः

• चेत्: if
• चेत्: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: चेत् (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्तार्थक-अव्यय (conditional particle: ‘if’)

• सूर्यवारेण: by/with Sunday (Sun’s day)
• सूर्यवारेण: Karana (Instrument/Means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूर्य + वार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (सूर्यस्य वारः)

• सप्तमी: the seventh lunar day
• सप्तमी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सप्तमी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (तिथिः)

• उपोष्य: having fasted
• उपोष्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उप + वस् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive), ‘उपोष्य’ = उपवासं कृत्वा (having fasted)

• यः: who
• यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (relative pronoun)

• नरः: a man
• नरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• भक्त्या: with devotion
• भक्त्या: Karana (Instrument/Means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भक्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• रात्रौ: at night
• रात्रौ: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रात्रि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन (वैकल्पिक-रूप ‘रात्रौ’)

• कुर्वीत: should do/perform
• कुर्वीत: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ्-लकार (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• जागरम्: a vigil (wakefulness)
• जागरम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जागर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Somanātha (Prabhāsa-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Devotee undertakes a bright-fortnight Sunday observance: fasting by day, keeping vigil at night in Somnātha’s precinct with lamps, hymns, and attentive worship.

Characters & Entities

• Śukla-pakṣa
• Sūrya-vāra (Sunday)
• Saptamī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotion is intensified through disciplined austerity—fasting and night-vigil—performed at especially auspicious calendrical alignments.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Somanātha is the implied focal tirtha whose power is accessed through this vrata discipline.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Upoṣa (fasting) and jāgaraṇa (night vigil), particularly when Śukla Saptamī coincides with Sunday (Sūrya-vāra).