Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 64

Devanagari script

पौषे मास्यर्कदिवसे यः स्नात्वा भास्करोदये । दानहोमंजपंकुर्यादर्चामर्कस्य सुव्रत

Transliteration

pauṣe māsyarkadivase yaḥ snātvā bhāskarodaye | dānahomaṃjapaṃkuryādarcāmarkasya suvrata

Translation

ഹേ സുവ്രതാ! പൗഷ മാസത്തിലെ അർക്കദിനത്തിൽ ഭാസ്കരോദയത്തിൽ സ്നാനം ചെയ്ത് ദാനം, ഹോമം, ജപം നടത്തി സൂര്യാർച്ചന ചെയ്യുന്നവൻ (നിശ്ചിത പുണ്യം) പ്രാപിക്കുന്നു।

Word by Word

• pauṣe: in Pauṣa
• pauṣe: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pauṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (māsi): ‘in the month of Pauṣa’

• māsi: in the month
• māsi: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• arka-divase: on Sunday
• arka-divase: Adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arka (प्रातिपदिक) + divasa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; ‘अर्कस्य दिवसः’ (Sun’s day/Sunday)

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• snātvā: having bathed
• snātvā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: √snā (धातु) + क्त्वा (Kridanta/absolutive)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive): ‘having bathed’

• bhāskara-udaye: at sunrise
• bhāskara-udaye: Adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāskara (प्रातिपदिक) + udaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; ‘भास्करस्य उदयः’

• dāna-homa-japam: charity, oblation, and recitation
• dāna-homa-japam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dāna (प्रातिपदिक) + homa (प्रातिपदिक) + japa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व (समाहारार्थ): ‘दानं च होमं च जपं च’

• kuryāt: should do
• kuryāt: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• arcām: worship, offering
• arcām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arcā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• arkasya: of the Sun
• arkasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), एकवचन

• suvrata: O one of good vows
• suvrata: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: suvrata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Ganga-ghaṭa sunrise snāna on Arkadivasa in Pauṣa)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: suvrata (addressed devotee)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Winter dawn in Pauṣa: mist over the Ganga, a devotee completes sunrise bath, then performs a small homa on the ghat, counts japa beads, offers arghya and flowers to the rising Sun.

Characters & Entities

• Pauṣa (month)
• Arka (Sūrya)
• Bhāskara (Sun)
• Dāna
• Homa
• Japa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A disciplined solar observance—sunrise bath plus dāna, homa, and japa—accumulates strong puṇya and purifies life.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is within Kāśīkhaṇḍa; it implies a sacred bathing setting consistent with Kāśī’s ritual culture, though no particular ghāṭa/tīrtha is named.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

In Pauṣa on Arka-day: bathe at sunrise, perform dāna, homa, japa, and worship (arcana) of the Sun.