Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 22
दश वर्षाणि पञ्चैव तृप्तिं यांति पितामहः । पिंडदानेन दत्तेन पितॄणां तुष्टिमावहेत् । नरके तु स्थितानां च मुक्तिर्भूयान्न संशयः
daśa varṣāṇi pañcaiva tṛptiṃ yāṃti pitāmahaḥ | piṃḍadānena dattena pitṝṇāṃ tuṣṭimāvahet | narake tu sthitānāṃ ca muktirbhūyānna saṃśayaḥ
பத்து மற்றும் ஐந்து—மொத்தம் பதினைந்து ஆண்டுகள் பித்ருக்கள் திருப்தியடைகின்றனர். அர்ப்பணித்த பிண்டதானத்தால் பித்ரர்களுக்கு நிறைவு உண்டாகும்; நரகத்தில் இருப்போருக்கும் மிகுந்த விடுதலை கிடைக்கும்—இதில் ஐயமில்லை।
Īśvara (Śiva) (continuing the fruit of the rite described)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (śrāddha-tīrtha context)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A pilgrim at Prabhāsa offers rice-balls (piṇḍas) on darbha near a sacred water-edge; subtle ancestral figures receive the offering, with a distant vision of naraka dissolving into light.
FAQs
Compassion extends beyond the living: honoring ancestors through piṇḍadāna is portrayed as a powerful dharmic act with far-reaching spiritual relief.
The Mahākuṇḍa/associated tīrtha-zone in Prabhāsakṣetra, where bathing and ancestral offerings yield extraordinary merit.
Piṇḍadāna (ancestral rice-ball offering), connected with snāna and tarpaṇa at the Mahākuṇḍa, granting long-lasting Pitṛ satisfaction and even release for those in naraka.