Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 8
सर्वत्रैव पितः प्रोक्तं पिता तर्पणकर्मणि । पित्र्ये संकल्पकाले च पितुरक्षय्यदापने
sarvatraiva pitaḥ proktaṃ pitā tarpaṇakarmaṇi | pitrye saṃkalpakāle ca piturakṣayyadāpane
Di mana-mana disebut bentuk “pitaḥ”; namun dalam amalan tarpaṇa hendaklah digunakan “pitā”. Demikian juga, pada waktu saṅkalpa untuk leluhur dan dalam pemberian akṣayya-dāna, bentuk yang tepat ialah “pituḥ”.
Skanda (deduced)
Scene: A priest guiding a yajamāna, pointing to a palm-leaf/ritual manual while the yajamāna pours water for tarpaṇa; highlighted words ‘pitā’ and ‘pituḥ’ appear as calligraphic cues, indicating different contexts (tarpaṇa vs saṅkalpa/dāna).
FAQs
Precision in sacred speech (mantra and grammatical form) is part of dharma and safeguards the efficacy of pitṛ-offerings.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as a ritual-language guideline within the māhātmya section.
Use the appropriate grammatical forms of ‘father’ depending on context: tarpaṇa, pitṛ-saṅkalpa, and akṣayya-dāna.