Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 4

Devanagari script

स्पंदनात्प्राक्पुंसवनं सीमंतोन्नयनं ततः । मासि षष्ठेऽष्टमे वापि जातेथो जातकर्म च

Transliteration

spaṃdanātprākpuṃsavanaṃ sīmaṃtonnayanaṃ tataḥ | māsi ṣaṣṭhe'ṣṭame vāpi jātetho jātakarma ca

Translation

ก่อนที่ทารกในครรภ์จะเริ่มเคลื่อนไหว ให้ประกอบพิธีปุํสวะนะ แล้วจึงพิธีสีมันโตนนะยะนะ ในเดือนที่หกหรือเดือนที่แปด และเมื่อคลอดแล้วจึงประกอบพิธีชาตกรรม

Word by Word

• spandanāt: from (the time of) fetal movement
• spandanāt: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: spandana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन (Singular)

• prāk: before
• prāk: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prāk (अव्यय)
• Form: काल-अव्यय (temporal adverb)

• puṃsavanam: the puṃsavana rite
• puṃsavanam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṃsavana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Nom./Acc.), एकवचन (Singular)

• sīmaṃta-unnayanam: the sīmantonnayana rite
• sīmaṃta-unnayanam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sīmaṃta (प्रातिपदिक) + unnayana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः तत्पुरुषः; नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Nom./Acc.), एकवचन (Singular)

• tataḥ: then/thereafter
• tataḥ: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय/तद्-प्रातिपदिक-निष्पन्न)
• Form: क्रम-अव्यय (sequencing adverb)

• māsi: in the month
• māsi: Adhikarana (Location/Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular)

• ṣaṣṭhe: in the sixth
• ṣaṣṭhe: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣaṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular)

• aṣṭame: in the eighth
• aṣṭame: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular)

• vā: or
• vā: Samuccaya (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प-अव्यय (disjunctive particle)

• api: also
• api: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि-कारक (particle: also/even)

• jāte: when (the child) is born
• jāte: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jāta (प्रातिपदिक; √jan-क्त)
• Form: कृत्प्रत्ययान्त (past participle), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular)

• atho: then
• atho: Kriya-visheshana (Sequencer/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha + u (अव्यय)
• Form: अनन्तर-अव्यय (then/thereupon)

• jātakarma: the birth-rite (jātakarma)
• jātakarma: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jāta (प्रातिपदिक) + karma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः तत्पुरुषः; नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Nom./Acc.), एकवचन (Singular)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

Speaker

Skanda (contextual continuity)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A household performs prenatal rites: a priest recites while the pregnant mother is blessed; later a birth scene with jātakarma—honey/ghee touch ritual implied—set against a Kāśī domestic courtyard near the ghats.

Characters & Entities

• Puṃsavana
• Sīmantonnayana
• Jātakarma

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Human life is to be consecrated from the womb onward through saṃskāras that invoke auspiciousness and dharmic order.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kāśīkhaṇḍa setting frames these rites within Kāśī’s dharmic ethos, though no single tirtha is named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Perform puṃsavana before fetal movement, then sīmantonnayana; in the sixth or eighth month observe the stated rite(s), and at birth perform jātakarma.