Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 25

Devanagari script

पितामहस्तु प्रत्यक्षं भुक्त्वा गृह्णाति पिण्डकम् । पितामहक्षयाहे च पार्वणं श्राद्धमिष्यते

Transliteration

pitāmahastu pratyakṣaṃ bhuktvā gṛhṇāti piṇḍakam | pitāmahakṣayāhe ca pārvaṇaṃ śrāddhamiṣyate

Translation

പിതാമഹൻ പ്രത്യക്ഷമായി ഇരുന്ന് ഭോജനം ചെയ്ത് പിണ്ഡം സ്വീകരിക്കുന്നു. കൂടാതെ പിതാമഹന്റെ ക്ഷയാഹ ദിനത്തിൽ പാർവണ ശ്രാദ്ധം വിധിക്കപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• पितामहः: grandfather
• पितामहः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितामह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• तु: however/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात/particle (contrast/emphasis)

• प्रत्यक्षम्: directly, in person
• प्रत्यक्षम्: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रत्यक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; क्रियाविशेषणवत् (adverbially: ‘directly/in person’)

• भुक्त्वा: having eaten
• भुक्त्वा: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: भुक्त्वा (कृदन्त; √भुज् (धातु) ; क्त्वा-प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund/absolutive)

• गृह्णाति: takes/accepts
• गृह्णाति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √ग्रह् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• पिण्डकम्: rice-ball (piṇḍa offering)
• पिण्डकम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिण्डक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• पितामहक्षयाहे: on the day of the grandfather’s death
• पितामहक्षयाहे: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितामह-क्षय-अहन् (प्रातिपदिकानि)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: पितामहस्य क्षयः यस्मिन् अहनि (on the day of grandfather’s death)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय/conjunction

• पार्वणम्: pārvaṇa rite (monthly śrāddha)
• पार्वणम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्वण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• श्राद्धम्: śrāddha (ancestral rite)
• श्राद्धम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्राद्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; पार्वणस्य विशेष्य (apposition)

• इष्यते: is prescribed/approved
• इष्यते: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √इष् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोगसदृशः (is considered/approved)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Gṛhastha/pilgrim audience (implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The living grandfather seated and accepting food/offerings; beside him, the śrāddha altar indicates pārvana arrangement for the appropriate memorial day; priest officiates with calm authority.

Characters & Entities

• pitāmaha
• piṇḍa
• pārvana śrāddha
• kṣayāha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ritual dharma adapts to lived family realities while maintaining the sanctity of ancestral remembrance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it is part of the chapter’s tīrtha-ritual framework.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

If the grandfather is alive, he receives the piṇḍa directly; for the grandfather’s kṣayāha, perform pārvana śrāddha.