Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24

Devanagari script

पिता यस्य तु निर्वृत्तो जीवते च पितामहः । पितुः स नाम संकीर्त्य कीर्तयेत्प्रपितामहम्

Transliteration

pitā yasya tu nirvṛtto jīvate ca pitāmahaḥ | pituḥ sa nāma saṃkīrtya kīrtayetprapitāmaham

Translation

ఎవరి తండ్రి పరలోకగతుడై, పితామహుడు జీవించి ఉంటే, అతడు ముందుగా తండ్రి నామాన్ని ఉచ్చరించి, తరువాత ప్రపితామహుని నామాన్ని పలకాలి.

Word by Word

• पिता: father
• पिता: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• यस्य: whose
• यस्य: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात/particle (emphasis/contrast)

• निर्वृत्तः: departed/ceased (dead)
• निर्वृत्तः: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (कर्तृसमानााधिकरण/Predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्वृत्त (कृदन्त; √वृत्/√वृत्त् (धातु) + नि-; भूतकृदन्त/क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle)

• जीवते: lives
• जीवते: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √जीव् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय/conjunction

• पितामहः: grandfather
• पितामहः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितामह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• पितुः: of the father
• पितुः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• नाम: name
• नाम: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नामन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; अव्ययीभाववत् प्रयोगः (as ‘name’)

• संकीर्त्य: having recited/mentioned
• संकीर्त्य: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: संकीर्त्य (कृदन्त; √कीर्त् (धातु) + सम्; ल्यप्/क्त्वा-प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund/absolutive)

• कीर्तयेत्: should recite/proclaim
• कीर्तयेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कीर्त् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• प्रपितामहम्: great-grandfather
• प्रपितामहम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रपितामह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Gṛhastha performers (implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A family śrāddha where the living grandfather sits present; the performer recites the deceased father’s name and then the great-grandfather’s, with the priest guiding the sequence.

Characters & Entities

• pitā
• pitāmaha
• prapitāmaha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma preserves lineage-harmony by aligning ritual address with the living and the departed in the ancestral chain.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No named site appears; the verse is procedural within the tīrtha-oriented chapter.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

When the father is deceased but the grandfather lives, recite the father’s name and then invoke the great-grandfather.