Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 47

Devanagari script

गंगायामस्थिपातं च कृत्वा श्राद्धानि षोडश । गयां गत्वा ततश्चक्रे श्राद्धं श्रद्धासमन्वितः

Transliteration

gaṃgāyāmasthipātaṃ ca kṛtvā śrāddhāni ṣoḍaśa | gayāṃ gatvā tataścakre śrāddhaṃ śraddhāsamanvitaḥ

Translation

ഗംഗയിൽ അസ്ഥിവിസർജനം നടത്തി അവൻ ഷോഡശ ശ്രാദ്ധങ്ങൾ നിർവഹിച്ചു; തുടർന്ന് ഗയയിൽ ചെന്നു ശ്രദ്ധയോടെ അവിടെയും ശ്രാദ്ധം ചെയ്തു।

Word by Word

• gaṅgāyām: in the Gaṅgā
• gaṅgāyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gaṅgā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन

• asthi-pātam: immersion/casting of bones
• asthi-pātam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asthi (प्रातिपदिक) + pāta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (asthnāṃ pātaḥ)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक)

• kṛtvā: having done
• kṛtvā: Sambandha (पूर्वक्रिया/Adverbial)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive); पूर्वक्रिया (having done)

• śrāddhāni: śrāddha rites
• śrāddhāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śrāddha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• ṣoḍaśa: sixteen
• ṣoḍaśa: Karma (Object-quantifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣoḍaśa (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्या-विशेषणम्; नपुंसक-द्वितीया-बहुवचनार्थे (qualifying śrāddhāni)

• gayām: to Gayā
• gayām: Karma (Goal as object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gayā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• gatvā: having gone
• gatvā: Sambandha (पूर्वक्रिया/Adverbial)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund); पूर्वक्रिया (having gone)

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) = thereafter

• cakre: performed
• cakre: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपदम्

• śrāddham: a śrāddha rite
• śrāddham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śrāddha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• śraddhā-samanvitaḥ: endowed with faith
• śraddhā-samanvitaḥ: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śraddhā (प्रातिपदिक) + samanvita (कृदन्त; √anv-i/अन्वि)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त), विशेषणम् (कर्ता-विशेषण); तृतीया-तत्पुरुषः (śraddhayā samanvitaḥ)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration within Tīrthamāhātmya; exact speaker not explicit in the snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā; Gayā

Type: river

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim-son consigns bone-remains into the Gaṅgā, then performs a cycle of sixteen śrāddhas; later he arrives at Gayā and offers śrāddha with deep faith.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā
• Gayā
• Śrāddha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Faithfully performed ancestral rites at renowned tīrthas are upheld as powerful supports for pitṛs and as a dhārmic duty of descendants.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Gaṅgā for asthi-visarjana and Gayā for śrāddha—both famed in Purāṇic sacred geography for pitṛ-kārya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Asthi-pāta (bone immersion) in the Gaṅgā and the performance of sixteen śrāddhas, followed by śrāddha at Gayā.