Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 5

Devanagari script

दंपती भोज येद्यस्तु पायसैः शर्करादिभिः । गौरीसहस्रभोज्यस्य दत्तस्य फलमाप्नुयात्

Transliteration

daṃpatī bhoja yedyastu pāyasaiḥ śarkarādibhiḥ | gaurīsahasrabhojyasya dattasya phalamāpnuyāt

Translation

പായസം, ശർക്കര മുതലായ മധുരവസ്തുക്കളാൽ ദമ്പതികളെ ഭോജിപ്പിക്കുന്നവൻ, ഗൗരിക്കു സഹസ്ര-ഭോജ്യദാനം ചെയ്തതിനു തുല്യമായ പുണ്യഫലം പ്രാപിക്കും.

Word by Word

• daṃpatī: the couple (husband and wife)
• daṃpatī: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: daṃpatī (प्रातिपदिक; दम्पती)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (दम्पती-शब्दः), द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), द्विवचन; युगलम् (पति-पत्नी)

• bhojayet: should feed
• bhojayet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhuj (धातु; causative भोजयति)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्; णिच्-प्रत्यय (causative)

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

• tu: indeed
• tu: Sambandha/Connector (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधान/विरोधार्थक (emphatic/contrastive particle)

• pāyasaiḥ: with rice-pudding (sweet dishes)
• pāyasaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāyasa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; साधन/उपकरणे

• śarkarādibhiḥ: with sugar and the like
• śarkarādibhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śarkarā + ādi (प्रातिपदिक-समूह)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; शर्करा-आदि-समाहारः; साधने

• gaurī-sahasra-bhojyasya: of (the merit of) feeding a thousand (in honor of) Gaurī
• gaurī-sahasra-bhojyasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gaurī + sahasra + bhojya (प्रातिपदिक-समास)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन; ‘गौरीसहस्रभोज्य’ इति समस्तपदम्—गौर्याः सहस्र-भोज्यस्य (thousand-fold feeding to Gaurī)

• dattasya: of what is given
• dattasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: datta (कृदन्त; दा धातोः क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; विशेषणम् (फलम्/पुण्यम्)

• phalam: the fruit (result)
• phalam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: phala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• āpnuyāt: would obtain
• āpnuyāt: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: āp (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

Unspecified in snippet (context likely a Purāṇic narrator continuing the Māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Devamātā Sarasvatī / Gaurī context

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahādevī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee offers sweet rice and sugar-based dishes to a respectfully seated married couple, with the Devī shrine in the background; vessels, banana leaves/plates, and ritual cleanliness are emphasized; the act is framed as Gaurī-dedicated dāna.

Characters & Entities

• Gaurī
• Daṃpatī (married couple)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Simple hospitality and food-giving, when done devotionally, is magnified into great merit in a sacred kṣetra.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra, within whose Māhātmya this charitable act is praised.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Feeding (bhojana/annadāna) to a daṃpatī using pāyasa and sugar-based offerings, with the stated phala as equivalent to feeding a thousand in Gaurī’s honor.