Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

य इदं धर्ममाहात्म्यं ब्राह्मणाय प्रयच्छति । स्वर्गलोके वसेत्तावद्यावदक्षरसंख्यया

Transliteration

ya idaṃ dharmamāhātmyaṃ brāhmaṇāya prayacchati | svargaloke vasettāvadyāvadakṣarasaṃkhyayā

Translation

ഈ ‘ധർമ്മമാഹാത്മ്യം’ ബ്രാഹ്മണനു ദാനം ചെയ്യുന്നവൻ, ഇതിലെ അക്ഷരങ്ങളുടെ എണ്ണത്തോളം കാലം സ്വർഗ്ഗലോകത്തിൽ വസിക്കും.

Word by Word

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

• idam: this
• idam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; निर्देश (demonstrative)

• dharma-māhātmyam: the greatness of dharma
• dharma-māhātmyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharma (प्रातिपदिक) + māhātmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (dharmasya māhātmyam)

• brāhmaṇāya: to a brāhmaṇa
• brāhmaṇāya: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/सम्प्रदान), एकवचन

• prayacchati: gives
• prayacchati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√yam (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• svarga-loke: in the heavenly world
• svarga-loke: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (svargasya lokaḥ)

• vaset: should dwell
• vaset: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vas (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• tāvat: so long
• tāvat: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: परिमाण-अव्यय (correlative adverb)

• yāvat: as long as
• yāvat: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: परिमाण-अव्यय (relative adverb)

• akṣara-saṃkhyayā: by the count of syllables/letters
• akṣara-saṃkhyayā: Karana (Instrument/Measure/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: akṣara (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃkhyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (akṣarāṇāṃ saṃkhyā)

Speaker

Sūta

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dharma-māhātmya (as gifted text)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Audience concluding the māhātmya

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee respectfully offers a wrapped manuscript to a seated brāhmaṇa teacher; a scale-like motif of glowing syllables (akṣaras) rises upward into a celestial path, indicating long svarga residence.

Characters & Entities

• Brāhmaṇa
• Svarga (heaven)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Supporting dharma by gifting sacred teaching (text-dāna) is a potent meritorious act with long-lasting spiritual reward.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named; it is a general dāna-phala statement within the Dvārakā-māhātmya framework.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Dāna: gifting this dharma-māhātmya (a sacred text/teaching) to a brāhmaṇa.