Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

कृष्णपक्षे चतुर्दश्यां स्नात्वा यस्तर्पयेत्पितॄन् । तर्पिताः पितरस्तेन यावच्चन्द्रार्कतारकम्

Transliteration

kṛṣṇapakṣe caturdaśyāṃ snātvā yastarpayetpitṝn | tarpitāḥ pitarastena yāvaccandrārkatārakam

Translation

കൃഷ്ണപക്ഷത്തിലെ ചതുര്ദശിയിൽ സ്നാനം ചെയ്ത് പിതൃകൾക്ക് തർപ്പണം ചെയ്യുന്നവൻ—അവൻ തൃപ്തിപ്പെടുത്തിയ പിതൃകൾ ചന്ദ്രൻ, സൂര്യൻ, നക്ഷത്രങ്ങൾ നിലനിൽക്കുന്നത്രയും കാലം തൃപ്തരായിരിക്കും.

Word by Word

• कृष्णपक्षे: in the dark fortnight
• कृष्णपक्षे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्णपक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; समासः—कर्मधारय (कृष्णः पक्षः)

• चतुर्दश्याम्: on the fourteenth lunar day
• चतुर्दश्याम्: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतुर्दशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन

• स्नात्वा: having bathed
• स्नात्वा: Kriya (Gerundial/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्ना (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), पूर्वक्रिया (having bathed)

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

• तर्पयेत्: should satisfy / offer libations to
• तर्पयेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: तृप् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative/विधिलिङ्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; causative sense ‘to satisfy/offer libation’

• पितॄन्: the ancestors (pitṛs)
• पितॄन्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन

• तर्पिताः: satisfied
• तर्पिताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: तृप् (धातु)
• Form: कृत्प्रत्यय—क्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• पितरः: the ancestors
• पितरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• तेन: by him / through that (act)
• तेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन

• यावत्: as long as / until
• यावत्: Avyaya (Modifier/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यावत् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; परिमाण/अवधि-सूचक (until/as long as)

• चन्द्रार्कतारकम्: (till) the moon, sun, and stars (endure)
• चन्द्रार्कतारकम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चन्द्र + अर्क + तारक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः—द्वन्द्व (चन्द्रश्च अर्कश्च तारकं च)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa tīrtha (contextually Trisaṅgama vicinity)

Type: sangam

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pārvatī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At dawn on the dark fortnight’s fourteenth, a pilgrim stands waist-deep in sacred water, offering tarpaṇa with cupped hands; subtle ancestral silhouettes receive the offering, while the sky shows moon and stars as symbols of duration.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Kṛṣṇa-pakṣa Caturdaśī
• Candra
• Arka (Sūrya)
• Tārā (stars)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma includes care for lineage: tīrtha-bathing joined with pitṛ-offerings yields enduring ancestral satisfaction.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Prabhāsa-kṣetra tīrtha context of this chapter, where such snāna and tarpaṇa are especially efficacious.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

On Kṛṣṇa-pakṣa Caturdaśī, bathe and perform pitṛ-tarpaṇa; the Pitṛs are satisfied for an extremely long duration.