Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 43

Devanagari script

युष्मदग्रे द्विजश्रेष्ठा गया कूप्यां करिष्यति । यस्तस्य तत्फलं भावि सहस्रशतसंमितम्

Transliteration

yuṣmadagre dvijaśreṣṭhā gayā kūpyāṃ kariṣyati | yastasya tatphalaṃ bhāvi sahasraśatasaṃmitam

Translation

ഹേ ദ്വിജശ്രേഷ്ഠന്മാരേ, നിങ്ങളുടെ സന്നിധിയിലേ തന്നെ കൂപ്യയിൽ ഗയാ-ശ്രാദ്ധം നടത്തപ്പെടും. അത് ചെയ്യുന്നവന് ലഭിക്കാനുള്ള ഫലം ലക്ഷഗുണമായി കണക്കാക്കപ്പെടും.

Word by Word

• yuṣmat-agre: in your presence
• yuṣmat-agre: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuṣmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + agra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (युष्माकम् अग्रे = in your presence)

• dvija-śreṣṭhāḥ: O best of the twice-born
• dvija-śreṣṭhāḥ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक) + śreṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), बहुवचन; कर्मधारयः (श्रेष्ठा द्विजाः)

• gayā: Gayā (the sacred place/rite)
• gayā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gayā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तीर्थ-नाम

• kūpyām: in a well/at the well
• kūpyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kūpī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• kariṣyati: will do/perform
• kariṣyati: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लृट् (Simple Future), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject of relative clause/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सम्बन्धक-सर्वनाम

• tasya: of that (person/act)
• tasya: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• tat-phalam: its result
• tat-phalam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + phala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (तस्य फलम्)

• bhāvi: future/that will occur
• bhāvi: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhāvin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; ‘भविष्यत्/भवितव्य’ अर्थे (future/that will be)

• sahasra-śata-saṃmitam: amounting to 1100 (a thousand and a hundred)
• sahasra-śata-saṃmitam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sahasra (प्रातिपदिक) + śata (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃmita (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (सहस्र-शतेन संमितम् = measured as a thousand and a hundred)

Speaker

Indra (Śakra/Pākaśāsana), inferred from immediate context

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kūpyā

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: dvija-śreṣṭhas (addressed directly)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At Kūpyā, a Gayā-style śrāddha is performed before assembled brāhmaṇa elders; the rite is proclaimed to yield a hundred-thousandfold result.

Characters & Entities

• dvija
• Gayā
• Kūpyā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ancestral rites performed properly, with qualified Brahmins as witnesses, are proclaimed to yield immense merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kūpyā is named as the locale where the Gayā-type śrāddha is to be performed, within the larger Gayā-māhātmya context.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Undertake the Gayā rite/śrāddha at Kūpyā, in the presence of dvija-śreṣṭhas (eminent Brahmins).