Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 142

Devanagari script

मृष्टान्नं ब्राह्मणस्यार्थे स्वर्गे वासं तु यान्ति ते । ब्रह्महत्याश्वमेधाभ्यां न परं पापपुण्ययोः

Transliteration

mṛṣṭānnaṃ brāhmaṇasyārthe svarge vāsaṃ tu yānti te | brahmahatyāśvamedhābhyāṃ na paraṃ pāpapuṇyayoḥ

Translation

ผู้ใดถวายภัตตาหารอันประณีตปรุงดีเพื่อพราหมณ์ ผู้นั้นย่อมได้ที่พำนักในสวรรค์ เพราะในดุลแห่งบาปและบุญ ไม่มีสิ่งใดเกินกว่า พราหมณ์หัตยา และอัศวเมธ

Word by Word

• मृष्टान्नम्: well-prepared food
• मृष्टान्नम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृष्ट (कृदन्त/क्त; √मृज्) + अन्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास ('मृष्टं अन्नम्'), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• ब्राह्मणस्य: of/for a brāhmaṇa
• ब्राह्मणस्य: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• अर्थे: for the sake (of)
• अर्थे: Hetu/Purpose (हेतु/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; अर्थे = प्रयोजनार्थे (for the sake of)

• स्वर्गे: in heaven
• स्वर्गे: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वर्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• वासम्: dwelling, residence
• वासम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• तु: indeed, but
• तु: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधान/विरोधसूचक (emphatic/contrastive particle)

• यान्ति: go, attain
• यान्ति: Kriyā (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन

• ते: they
• ते: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• ब्रह्महत्याश्वमेधाभ्याम्: by/than (the acts of) brahma-murder and horse-sacrifice
• ब्रह्महत्याश्वमेधाभ्याम्: Karana/Comparison basis (करण/उपमान-आधार)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्महत्या (प्रातिपदिक) + अश्वमेध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व, स्त्री/पुं (समाहारार्थे द्वन्द्वे नपुंसकत्वं सम्भवति; अत्र द्विवचन-तृतीया), तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), द्विवचन

• न: not
• न: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय

• परम्: greater, beyond
• परम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण; predicate)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; अत्र 'श्रेष्ठम्/अधिकम्' अर्थे

• पापपुण्ययोः: of sin and merit
• पापपुण्ययोः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक) + पुण्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), द्विवचन

Speaker

Sūta (deduced, Purāṇic narration style within Āvantya Khaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha milieu (implicit)

Type: river

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim household offers steaming, well-prepared food on banana leaves or metal plates to seated brāhmaṇas; above, a symbolic svarga pavilion; in contrast, a faint cautionary shadow motif for brahma-hatyā and a distant horse-sacrifice icon for aśvamedha.

Characters & Entities

• Brāhmaṇa
• Aśvamedha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Anna-dāna offered in reverence to brāhmaṇas is praised as a powerful source of puṇya, while the text also frames brahma-hatyā and aśvamedha as extreme poles of pāpa and puṇya.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse is a general dharma-teaching within the Revā Khaṇḍa; the immediate shloka does not name a specific tīrtha, though the broader section is associated with the Revā (Narmadā) sacred landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The prescription is anna-dāna—offering well-prepared food for the sake of a brāhmaṇa.