Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31

Devanagari script

गृहस्थः परपाकादी प्रेत्य तत्पशुतां व्रजेत् । श्रेयः परान्नपुष्टस्य गृह्णीयादन्नदो यतः

Transliteration

gṛhasthaḥ parapākādī pretya tatpaśutāṃ vrajet | śreyaḥ parānnapuṣṭasya gṛhṇīyādannado yataḥ

Translation

മറ്റുള്ളവർ പാചകം ചെയ്ത അന്നം ആശ്രയിച്ച് ജീവിക്കുന്ന ഗൃഹസ്ഥൻ, മരണാനന്തരം അവരുടെ പശുത്വാവസ്ഥയിലേക്കു പോകുന്നു. അതിനാൽ പരാന്നംകൊണ്ട് പോഷിതനാകുന്നതിനെക്കാൾ അന്നദാതാവാകുന്നതാണ് ശ്രേയസ്.

Word by Word

• गृहस्थः: a householder
• गृहस्थः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गृहस्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन

• परपाकादी: one who lives on others’ cooking, etc.
• परपाकादी: Visheshana (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक) + पाक (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; परपाक-आदि इति तत्पुरुषः; ‘गृहस्थः’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम् (one who begins with eating others’ cooking etc.)

• प्रेत्य: having died / after departing
• प्रेत्य: Purvakala (Prior action)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्र + इ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (absolutive) ‘प्र + इ’ = having departed (after death)

• तत्पशुताम्: that animal-state
• तत्पशुताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तत् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + पशुता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म) विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्-पशुता इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः

• व्रजेत्: would go to / attain
• व्रजेत्: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्रज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• श्रेयः: the better course / welfare
• श्रेयः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रेयस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन

• परान्नपुष्टस्य: of one nourished by others’ food
• परान्नपुष्टस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक) + अन्न (प्रातिपदिक) + पुष्ट (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √पुष्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध) विभक्ति, एकवचन; पर-अन्न-पुष्ट इति तत्पुरुषः; ‘अन्नदः’ इत्यस्य सम्बन्धी

• गृह्णीयात्: should accept / take
• गृह्णीयात्: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ग्रह् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद

• अन्नदः: the giver of food
• अन्नदः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्न (प्रातिपदिक) + द (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √दा; present participial agent)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; अन्नं ददाति इति (giver of food)

• यतः: because
• यतः: Hetu (Cause)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यतः (अव्यय)
• Form: हेतुवाचक-अव्यय (because/since)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A householder runs a simple annadāna: cooking pot on hearth, serving food to guests/pilgrims; contrasted with a faint symbolic vignette of cattle to indicate the warned post-mortem ‘paśutā’ state.

Characters & Entities

• Gṛhastha (Householder)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A householder should cultivate dignity and merit through anna-dāna, not through habitual dependence on others’ food.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The counsel is delivered in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa milieu, where feeding others is praised as a hallmark of dharma in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Anna-dāna—adopting the role of ‘annada’ (giver of food) as a dharmic practice.