Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 33

Devanagari script

एकोत्तरशतं वंश्यान्नवेत्पायस कर्दमम् । क्षीरोदरोधः पुण्यात्मा भक्त्या तत्रैकधेनुदः

Transliteration

ekottaraśataṃ vaṃśyānnavetpāyasa kardamam | kṣīrodarodhaḥ puṇyātmā bhaktyā tatraikadhenudaḥ

Translation

ക്ഷീരോദതീരത്ത് പുണ്യാത്മാവ് ഭക്തിയോടെ അവിടെ ഒരു പശുവിനെ ദാനം ചെയ്താൽ, അവന്റെ വംശത്തിലെ നൂറൊന്ന് പിതൃപുരുഷന്മാർ പായസവും മധുരഹവിസ്സും പോലെ തൃപ്തരാകും।

Word by Word

• eka-uttara-śatam: one hundred and one
• eka-uttara-śatam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + uttara (प्रातिपदिक) + śata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; द्विगुसमासः (एकेनोत्तरं शतम् = 101)

• vaṃśyān: descendants
• vaṃśyān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vaṃśya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), बहुवचन

• navet: should lead/should take
• navet: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √nī (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; धातुः √nī (ने)

• pāyasa: rice-milk, sweet milk preparation
• pāyasa: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāyasa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; (कर्दमम् इति विशेषणत्वेन)

• kardamam: mud/slush (here: a thick mixture)
• kardamam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kardama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

• kṣīroda-rodhaḥ: the bank of the Kṣīroda
• kṣīroda-rodhaḥ: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣīroda (प्रातिपदिक) + rodha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (क्षीरोदस्य रोधः)

• puṇya-ātmā: a virtuous-souled person
• puṇya-ātmā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṇya (प्रातिपदिक) + ātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः (यस्य आत्मा पुण्यः)

• bhaktyā: with devotion
• bhaktyā: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhakti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), एकवचन

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• eka-dhenudaḥ: one who gives a single cow
• eka-dhenudaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + dhenuda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष-समासः (एकः दhenudaḥ = one cow-giver)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kṣīroda (tīra)

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee on a luminous riverbank labeled Kṣīroda offers a decorated cow to a brāhmaṇa; behind, subtle ancestral figures receive bowls of kṣīra/pāyasa-like satisfaction, indicating lineage nourishment.

Characters & Entities

• Kṣīroda (Kṣīrābdhi)
• Pitṛs/lineage (implicit)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A small act of charity, when offered with bhakti at a great tīrtha, expands into vast merit benefiting one’s entire lineage.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kṣīroda-rodha (the bank of Kṣīroda/Kṣīrābdhi) in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Go-dāna—offering even a single cow there with devotion for ancestral/lineage benefit.