Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

चन्द्रसूर्योपरागे वा गोदानं नृपसत्तम । यः करोति नरस्तत्र स कुलान्सप्त तारयेत्

Transliteration

candrasūryoparāge vā godānaṃ nṛpasattama | yaḥ karoti narastatra sa kulānsapta tārayet

Translation

ഹേ നൃപശ്രേഷ്ഠാ! അവിടെ ചന്ദ്രഗ്രഹണമോ സൂര്യഗ്രഹണമോ നടക്കുന്ന വേളയിൽ ആരെങ്കിലും ഗോദാനം ചെയ്താൽ, അവൻ തന്റെ വംശത്തിലെ ഏഴ് തലമുറകളെ തരിക്കും.

Word by Word

• candra-sūrya-uparāge: at a lunar or solar eclipse
• candra-sūrya-uparāge: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: candra (प्रातिपदिक) + sūrya (प्रातिपदिक) + uparāga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष) ‘चन्द्रस्य/सूर्यस्य उपरागः’ (ग्रहण-काल)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Alternative/विकल्प)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विकल्प (or)

• go-dānam: gift of a cow
• go-dānam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: go (प्रातिपदिक) + dāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (कर्मधारय/षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष) ‘गोः दानम्’

• nṛpa-sattama: O best of kings
• nṛpa-sattama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛpa (प्रातिपदिक) + sattama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8), एकवचन; समासः—कर्मधारय ‘श्रेष्ठः नृपः’

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक सर्वनाम

• karoti: does, gives
• karoti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• naraḥ: a man
• naraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) (यः इत्यस्य विशेष्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikarana (Location/Time)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देश/कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• kulān: families/lineages
• kulān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kula (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), बहुवचन

• sapta: seven
• sapta: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sapta (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्या; द्वितीया (2), बहुवचनार्थे (kulān इत्यस्य विशेषण)

• tārayet: would save/deliver
• tārayet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: tṛ (धातु)
• Form: लोट्/विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद; causative sense ‘तारयति’ (to ferry/save)

Speaker

Pulastya (deduced from immediate narrative context of Arbuda Khaṇḍa dialogue)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Yayāti

Visual Art Cues

Scene: During an eclipse at a sacred site, a donor offers a decorated cow to a worthy brāhmaṇa; the sky shows the eclipsed sun/moon, pilgrims bathe and chant, and ancestral figures are symbolically uplifted behind the donor.

Characters & Entities

• Candra (Moon)
• Sūrya (Sun)
• Uparāga (Eclipse)
• Godāna

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Charity performed at powerful times (eclipses) and sacred places becomes a force for collective welfare, uplifting one’s lineage.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The ‘there’ indicates the same tīrtha praised in this sequence (Raktānubandha area within Arbuda Khaṇḍa).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Godāna (cow-gift) to be performed during candra/sūrya uparāga (lunar/solar eclipse).