Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 122

Devanagari script

अपुत्रता मनुष्याणां श्रेयसे न कुपुत्रता । सुहृदां नोपकाराय पितॄणां नापि तृप्तये

Transliteration

aputratā manuṣyāṇāṃ śreyase na kuputratā | suhṛdāṃ nopakārāya pitṝṇāṃ nāpi tṛptaye

Translation

สำหรับมนุษย์ เพื่อความเกื้อกูลแห่งตน ความไร้บุตรยังประเสริฐกว่ามีบุตรชั่ว ผู้ไม่อุปการะมิตรสหาย และไม่ยังความอิ่มเอมแก่บรรพชน (ปิตฤ)

Word by Word

• अपुत्रता: childlessness
• अपुत्रता: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अ-पुत्रता (प्रातिपदिक; पुत्र + ता-प्रत्यय)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; नञ्-तत्पुरुष (अ + पुत्रता)

• मनुष्याणाम्: of humans
• मनुष्याणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनुष्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• श्रेयसे: for welfare/betterment
• श्रेयसे: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रेयस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन

• न: not
• न: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय (negation particle)

• कुपुत्रता: having a bad son
• कुपुत्रता: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कु-पुत्रता (प्रातिपदिक; पुत्र + ता-प्रत्यय)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; उपपद-तत्पुरुष (कु + पुत्रता)

• सुहृदाम्: of friends/well-wishers
• सुहृदाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुहृद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• न: not
• न: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय (negation particle); (नोपकाराय इत्यत्र संधिविच्छेदः)

• उपकाराय: for benefit/help
• उपकाराय: Sampradana (Purpose/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपकार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन

• पितॄणाम्: of the forefathers/parents
• पितॄणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• न: not
• न: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय; (नापि इत्यत्र संधिविच्छेदः)

• अपि: also/even
• अपि: Discourse particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपेक्षार्थक-अव्यय (also/even)

• तृप्तये: for satisfaction
• तृप्तये: Sampradana (Purpose/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तृप्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (implied, within Nārada’s narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra (Prabhāsa)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Symbolic moral scene: on one side, an empty cradle (aputrata) with calm household; on the other, a wayward son causing turmoil; faint ancestral figures (pitṛs) appear unsatisfied in the background, hands extended for tarpaṇa.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Suhṛd (friends/well-wishers)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Righteousness is superior to mere lineage: an unrighteous son fails both social duty (helping well-wishers) and pitṛ-duty (bringing ancestral satisfaction).

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching occurs within the Vastrāpatha-kṣetra Māhātmya of Prabhāsa; it supports the broader purāṇic theme that kṣetra-sevā and dharma restore what adharma destroys.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is described here; the verse references the goal of pitṛ-tṛpti (ancestor satisfaction) in principle.