Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 45

Devanagari script

त्वया पुत्रेण पुत्राहं क्षुत्पिपासासमाकुलः । स्वर्गस्थोऽपि हि तिष्ठामि तस्मादन्नं प्रयच्छ वै । मन्नाम्ना तोयसंयुक्तं यदि त्वं मत्समुद्भवः

Transliteration

tvayā putreṇa putrāhaṃ kṣutpipāsāsamākulaḥ | svargastho'pi hi tiṣṭhāmi tasmādannaṃ prayaccha vai | mannāmnā toyasaṃyuktaṃ yadi tvaṃ matsamudbhavaḥ

Translation

ఓ కుమారా! నీ కారణంగా నేను తండ్రినైయుండి కూడా ఆకలి-దాహాలతో బాధపడుతున్నాను; స్వర్గంలో ఉన్నప్పటికీ అలాగే ఉన్నాను. కాబట్టి నీవు నిజంగా నాలోనుంచి పుట్టినవాడవైతే, నా నామంతో జలంతో కూడిన అన్నదానాన్ని అర్పించు.

Word by Word

• tvayā: by you
• tvayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tva (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), द्वितीयपुरुष-संबोधनार्थं; तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन (Singular)

• putreṇa: by (my) son
• putreṇa: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: putra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन (Singular)

• putra: O son
• putra: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: putra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative/8th), एकवचन (Singular)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), उत्तमपुरुष; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• kṣutpipāsā-samākulaḥ: afflicted by hunger and thirst
• kṣutpipāsā-samākulaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṣut (प्रातिपदिक) + pipāsā (प्रातिपदिक) + samākula (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष/द्वन्द्व-आधारित समासार्थः—‘क्षुत्-पिपासा’ (hunger & thirst) इत्यस्य समाहारः, तेन समाकुलः (afflicted)

• svarga-sthaḥ: being in heaven
• svarga-sthaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक) + stha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सप्तमी-तत्पुरुषः—स्वर्गे स्थितः (situated in heaven)

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle), अपि = ‘even/also’

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle), हेत्वर्थ/निश्चयार्थ—‘indeed/for’

• tiṣṭhāmi: I remain / I stay
• tiṣṭhāmi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sthā (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन (Singular); परस्मैपद

• tasmāt: therefore
• tasmāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तस्मात् इति अव्ययीभाववत् निपात-प्रयोगः; अपादानार्थे (ablative sense) ‘therefore/from that reason’

• annam: food
• annam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• prayaccha: give
• prayaccha: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√yam (यम् धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन (Singular); परस्मैपद

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle), निश्चयार्थ/उपपादक—‘indeed/surely’

• mat-nāmnā: with my name
• mat-nāmnā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + nāman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter) ‘नामन्’; तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः—मम नाम्ना (with my name)

• toya-saṃyuktam: mixed with water
• toya-saṃyuktam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: toya (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃyukta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √yuj)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—तोयेन संयुक्तम् (mixed with water)

• yadi: if
• yadi: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conjunction), शर्तार्थक—‘if’

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tva (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, मध्यमपुरुष; प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• mat-samudbhavaḥ: born from me
• mat-samudbhavaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + samudbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः—मतः समुद्भवः (born from me)

Speaker

King’s father (as Pitṛ, speaking in a dream)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A king receives a dream-vision of his father in a subtle, luminous yet distressed form, speaking of hunger and thirst; the father gestures toward a vessel of water and a plate of food offered in his name.

Characters & Entities

• pitṛ (father/ancestor)
• svarga (heaven)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Filial duty includes sustaining the Pitṛs through food-and-water offerings; lineage is validated through responsibility, not merely birth.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is named in this verse; it supports the chapter’s broader sacred-geography narrative by linking rites to restoration and grace.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Offer food (anna) along with water (toya), explicitly dedicated in the ancestor’s name—an ancestor-directed dāna/tarpaṇa-type act.