Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

हव्यं कव्यं भूतबलिं देवादीनां प्रवर्तयन् । प्राह्णापराह्णमध्याह्न क्रियाकालं विजृंभयन्

Transliteration

havyaṃ kavyaṃ bhūtabaliṃ devādīnāṃ pravartayan | prāhṇāparāhṇamadhyāhna kriyākālaṃ vijṛṃbhayan

Translation

അവൻ ദേവാദികൾക്കുള്ള ഹവ്യം, പിതൃകൾക്കുള്ള കവ്യം, ഭൂതങ്ങൾക്കുള്ള ബലി എന്നിവ പ്രവർത്തിപ്പിക്കുകയും; പ്രാഹ്ണം, മധ്യാഹ്നം, അപരാഹ്നം എന്നീ ക്രിയാകാലങ്ങളെ വിരിയിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു।

Word by Word

• havyam: havya-offering
• havyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: havya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘oblation to gods’

• kavyam: kavya-offering
• kavyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kavya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘offering to pitṛs’

• bhūta-balim: offering to beings
• bhūta-balim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūta (प्रातिपदिक) + bali (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः ‘भूतानां बलिः’

• deva-ādīnām: of gods and others
• deva-ādīnām: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठī)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः ‘देवाः आदयः येषाम्’ → ‘of gods and others’

• pravartayan: causing (them) to proceed
• pravartayan: Karta (Agent-participle/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √vṛt (धातु) + pra- (उपसर्ग)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त causative-participle ‘setting in motion/causing to proceed’

• prāhṇa-aparāhṇa-madhyāhna: (the divisions) forenoon–afternoon–midday
• prāhṇa-aparāhṇa-madhyāhna: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prāhṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + aparāhṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + madhyāhna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (समाहार-द्वन्द्वः); ‘forenoon, afternoon, midday’ as a collective

• kriyā-kālam: the time for rites
• kriyā-kālam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kriyā (प्रातिपदिक) + kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः ‘क्रियायाः कालः’

• vijṛṃbhayan: expanding
• vijṛṃbhayan: Karta (Agent-participle/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √jṛmbh (धातु) + vi- (उपसर्ग)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त causative/denominative sense ‘expanding/spreading out’

Speaker

Vyāsa (continued narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A single day shown in three panels: morning offerings to devas at a small altar, midday sandhyā with arghya, and afternoon pitṛ rites; the Sun arcs overhead marking prāhna–madhyāhna–aparāhna.

Characters & Entities

• Sūrya
• Devas
• Pitṛs (implied by kavya)
• Bhūtas (by bhūtabali)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma is lived through right timing and ordered worship; sacred time is a divine structure sustaining ritual and society.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No particular tīrtha is named; the verse emphasizes universal ritual order relevant to pilgrimage practice as well.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It references havya (deva-offerings), kavya (pitṛ-offerings), and bhūtabali, and notes that the Sun reveals the proper ritual times (kriyā-kāla) such as prāhṇa, madhyāhna, and aparāhṇa.