Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

पुष्ये वा जन्मनक्षत्रे अमावास्यां विशेषतः । भूतीश्वरे नरः स्नात्वा कुलकोटिं समुद्धरेत्

Transliteration

puṣye vā janmanakṣatre amāvāsyāṃ viśeṣataḥ | bhūtīśvare naraḥ snātvā kulakoṭiṃ samuddharet

Translation

विशेषतः अमावास्येला—किंवा पुष्य नक्षत्री, अथवा आपल्या जन्मनक्षत्राच्या दिवशी—भूतीश्वरात स्नान केल्यास मनुष्य एक कोटी कुलांचा उद्धार करतो।

Word by Word

• पुष्ये: in (the nakṣatra) Puṣya
• पुष्ये: Kala (Time/काल)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुष्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; नक्षत्रनाम

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प-अव्यय (disjunctive particle: or)

• जन्मनक्षत्रे: in one’s birth-star (natal asterism)
• जन्मनक्षत्रे: Kala (Time/काल)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्मनक्षत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; समासः—जन्मनः + नक्षत्र (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: birth-star)

• अमावास्याम्: on the new-moon day
• अमावास्याम्: Kala (Time/काल)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अमावास्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• विशेषतः: especially
• विशेषतः: Sambandha (Manner/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: विशेषतः (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रकारवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: especially)

• भूतीश्वरे: at Bhūtīśvara
• भूतीश्वरे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूतीश्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; समासः—भूति + ईश्वर

• नरः: a man
• नरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• स्नात्वा: having bathed
• स्नात्वा: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √स्ना (धातु) + त्वा (कृदन्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया (having bathed)

• कुलकोटिम्: a crore of (his) family line
• कुलकोटिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुलकोटि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; समासः—कुलानाम् + कोटि (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: a crore of lineages)

• समुद्धरेत्: should uplift / deliver
• समुद्धरेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-उद्-√हृ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

Speaker

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Bhūtīśvara

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pārtha-addressed interlocutor / king in frame narrative

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At Bhūtīśvara’s ghat, pilgrims bathe at dawn on Amāvāsyā; offerings for ancestors are made; a luminous ancestral host is shown being uplifted, symbolized by ascending light-lines representing ‘kula-koṭi’.

Characters & Entities

• Bhūtīśvara
• Puṣya (nakṣatra)
• Amāvāsyā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Tīrtha-snānā performed at auspicious times is portrayed as benefiting not only the individual but also one’s wider lineage.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Bhūtīśvara tīrtha in the Revā-khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Bathing (snāna) at Bhūtīśvara, particularly on Amāvāsyā, Puṣya, or one’s birth-nakṣatra.