Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 33

Devanagari script

सूत उवाच । ततः प्रभृति सा तत्र कूपिका ख्यातिमागता । पितॄणां पुष्टिदा नित्यं गयाशीर्षसमुद्भवा

Transliteration

sūta uvāca | tataḥ prabhṛti sā tatra kūpikā khyātimāgatā | pitṝṇāṃ puṣṭidā nityaṃ gayāśīrṣasamudbhavā

Translation

สูตะกล่าวว่า: นับแต่นั้นมา บ่อน้ำน้อย ณ ที่นั้นก็มีชื่อเสียง—เป็นผู้บำรุงเลี้ยงปิตฤ (pitṛ) อยู่เนืองนิตย์ และกล่าวกันว่าอุบัติขึ้นจากคยาศีรษะ (Gayāśīrṣa)

Word by Word

• सूतः: Sūta
• सूतः: कर्ता (Speaker/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: क्रिया (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• ततः: thereafter
• ततः: कालसूचक (Temporal)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिकात्)
• Form: अव्यय; अनन्तरम्-अर्थे (thereafter)

• प्रभृति: from then on
• प्रभृति: कालाधिकरण (Temporal adjunct)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्रभृति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; ‘from (that time) onwards’

• सा: she/that (well)
• सा: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: देशाधिकरण (Locative adjunct)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक (there)

• कूपिका: the little well (Kūpikā)
• कूपिका: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कूपिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• ख्यातिम्: fame, renown
• ख्यातिम्: कर्म (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ख्याति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• आगता: having attained
• आगता: कर्ता-विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ-गम् (धातु) → आगत (क्त-प्रत्यय, भूतकृदन्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्तः

• पितॄणाम्: of the ancestors
• पितॄणाम्: सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• पुष्टिदा: giver of nourishment
• पुष्टिदा: कर्ता-विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पुष्टि (प्रातिपदिक) + दा (दा-धातु, क्विप्/अच्; ‘दाता’)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (पुष्टिं ददाति)

• नित्यम्: always
• नित्यम्: कालाधिकरण (Temporal adjunct)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्यम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; नित्यत्वे (always)

• गयाशीर्षसमुद्भवा: arisen from Gayāśīrṣa
• गयाशीर्षसमुद्भवा: कर्ता-विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गया (प्रातिपदिक) + शीर्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + समुद्भव (सम्-उद्-भू-धातु, घञ्/अच्; ‘origin’)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (गयाशीर्षात् समुद्भवा)

Speaker

Sūta

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kūpikā of Kṛtaghna-preta-tīrtha (Gayāśīrṣa-samudbhavā)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and sages

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sūta narrates the aftermath: the humble well is now famed, radiating sanctity; unseen pitṛs are ‘nourished’ by offerings, and the site is poetically linked to Gayāśiras.

Characters & Entities

• Sūta
• Kūpikā (sacred well)
• Pitṛs
• Gayāśīrṣa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A tīrtha becomes ‘famous’ because it reliably supports pitṛ-dharma—sustaining and benefiting ancestors through prescribed rites.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The kūpikā (small well) at the plakṣa-tree site, explicitly linked in sanctity to Gayāśīrṣa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse frames the place as pitṛ-nourishing, implying ongoing śrāddha and pitṛ-offerings there as a steady source of merit.