Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 74

Devanagari script

येनाऽयं बालकस्तेऽद्य कृतो मृत्युविवर्जितः । तस्मात्स्थापय तीर्थेन देवं तं प्रपितामहम्

Transliteration

yenā'yaṃ bālakaste'dya kṛto mṛtyuvivarjitaḥ | tasmātsthāpaya tīrthena devaṃ taṃ prapitāmaham

Translation

เพราะท่านผู้นั้น เด็กน้อยนี้วันนี้พ้นจากความตายแล้ว; ฉะนั้นจงสถาปนา ณ ตีรถะอันศักดิ์สิทธิ์นี้ เทวะนั้นคือ ปรปิตามหะ (ปิตามหะ พระพรหม)

Word by Word

• येन: by which; whereby
• येन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, नपुंसकलिङ्गे/पुंलिङ्गे, तृतीया-विभक्तिः (करण), एकवचनम्; relative pronoun ‘by which/whereby’

• अयम्: this (one)
• अयम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• बालकः: boy; child
• बालकः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बालक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• ते: for you; to you
• ते: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, चतुर्थी-विभक्तिः (सम्प्रदान), एकवचनम्

• अद्य: today; now
• अद्य: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्ययम् (adverb of time)

• कृतः: made; rendered
• कृतः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु) + क्त (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्तः (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; ‘made/has been made’

• मृत्युविवर्जितः: free from death
• मृत्युविवर्जितः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मृत्यु (प्रातिपदिक) + विवर्जित (कृदन्त)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (मृत्योः विवर्जितः), पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; adjective qualifying ‘बालकः’

• तस्मात्: therefore
• तस्मात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: हेतौ/तस्मात्-शब्दः (ablatival adverbial usage: ‘therefore/from that reason’)

• स्थापय: establish; install
• स्थापय: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु) + णिच् (causative)
• Form: लोट्-लकारः (imperative), मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्; णिजन्त-धातु ‘स्थापयति’

• तीर्थेन: by (means of) the sacred ford; by the tīrtha
• तीर्थेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, तृतीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• देवम्: the god; deity
• देवम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• तम्: that
• तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; demonstrative qualifying ‘देवम्’

• प्रपितामहम्: great-grandfather (as a deity/ancestor)
• प्रपितामहम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रपितामह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; apposition to ‘देवम्’

Speaker

Ṛṣis (the sages)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Bālasakhya (implied; formal naming occurs in 21.76)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A dvija addressed as ‘dvijottama’ in the passage

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At a river-ford/ghāṭa, elders instruct a devotee to establish an image/altar of Pitāmaha (Brahmā) because a child has been freed from death; the child stands protected, garlanded, near the water’s edge.

Characters & Entities

• Pitāmaha/Brahmā
• Tīrtha
• Child (bālaka)
• Mṛtyu (Death)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A miracle of protection should be commemorated through sacred establishment that benefits future pilgrims.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The tīrtha where Pitāmaha (Brahmā) is to be installed—later associated with the child-centered fame of Bālasakhya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Sthāpana/pratiṣṭhā: installing the deity of Pitāmaha at the tīrtha.