Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 4

Devanagari script

पिण्डदानं जलं तात ऋणमुत्तममुच्यते । पित्ःणां तद्धि वै प्रोक्तमृणं दैवमतः परम्

Transliteration

piṇḍadānaṃ jalaṃ tāta ṛṇamuttamamucyate | pitḥṇāṃ taddhi vai proktamṛṇaṃ daivamataḥ param

Translation

اے عزیز! پِنڈ دان اور جل ارپن کو قرض کی بہترین ادائیگی کہا گیا ہے؛ کیونکہ یہی پِتروں کے حق میں دیوی قرض بتایا گیا ہے، جو سب سے بڑھ کر ہے۔

Word by Word

• पिण्डदानम्: offering of rice-balls (piṇḍa)
• पिण्डदानम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिण्ड-दान (प्रातिपदिक; पिण्ड + दान)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• जलम्: water (libation)
• जलम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समुच्चित-कर्ता (with पिण्डदानम्)

• तात: O dear one; O son
• तात: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तात (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, संबोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

• ऋणम्: a debt
• ऋणम्: Pradhana (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विधेय (predicate noun)

• उत्तमम्: the best; highest
• उत्तमम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (ऋणम्)

• उच्यते: is said; is called
• उच्यते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive)

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

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम; अनुवादक (refers to previous)

• हि: indeed
• हि: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात—हेतौ/निश्चयार्थे (particle: indeed)

• वै: certainly
• वै: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात—अवधारणार्थे (emphatic particle)

• प्रोक्तम्: declared; stated
• प्रोक्तम्: Kriya (Predicative/क्रियाविशेषणभाव)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-वच् (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मणि-भाव (as predicate adjective of तत्)

• ऋणम्: a debt
• ऋणम्: Pradhana (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; अप्पोजिशन (apposition to तत्)

• दैवम्: divine
• दैवम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दैव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (ऋणम्)

• अतः: therefore
• अतः: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अतः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; हेत्वर्थक/तस्मात्-अर्थक (therefore)

• परम्: supreme; beyond (all)
• परम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (ऋणम्/दैवम्)

Speaker

Unspecified in snippet (contextual narrator within Revā Khaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Pitṛṇām-ṛṇa-mocana tīrtha (contextual)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Addressed as 'tāta' within the discourse; overall listener is the king

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Riverbank śrāddha: devotee placing rice-balls (piṇḍas) on darbha, offering water with sesame; pitṛs receiving in subtle form; calm, sacred domesticity at a ghat.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs
• Piṇḍa (piṇḍadāna)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ancestral obligations are treated as sacred; piṇḍadāna and water-offerings are upheld as a supreme form of dharmic repayment.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse continues the Revā Khaṇḍa tīrtha-teaching without naming a single site; the merit is tied to performing these rites in the sacred geography of Revā.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Piṇḍadāna (offering piṇḍas) and jala-tarpaṇa (water libations) to the Pitṛs.