Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 52
गयाश्राद्धं करोत्येकः पितृपक्षे नृपोत्तम । पश्यत्यन्यो हृषीकेशं चातुर्मास्यं समाहितः
gayāśrāddhaṃ karotyekaḥ pitṛpakṣe nṛpottama | paśyatyanyo hṛṣīkeśaṃ cāturmāsyaṃ samāhitaḥ
اے بہترین بادشاہ! ایک شخص پِترپکش میں گیا شرادھ ادا کرتا ہے؛ مگر دوسرا، یکسو اور مرتکز دل کے ساتھ، چاتُرمَاسیہ میں ہریشیکیش کے درشن کرتا ہے—اسی کو اعلیٰ تر پُنّیہ قرار دیا گیا ہے۔
Skanda (deduced; vocative nṛpottama indicates a king as listener, but not named here)
Tirtha: Hṛṣīkeśa-darśana (Cāturmāsya) contrasted with Gayā-śrāddha (Pitṛpakṣa)
Type: kshetra
Listener: nṛpottama (best of kings)
Scene: A royal listener addressed (‘nṛpottama’) while two scenes unfold: pilgrims performing Gayā-śrāddha with piṇḍa offerings on riverbank; and a composed devotee beholding Hṛṣīkeśa in temple during Cāturmāsya, suggesting a higher, more luminous fruit.
FAQs
Honoring ancestors is highly meritorious, yet devotion culminating in the Lord’s darśana is held to be the highest fruit.
Gayā is explicitly referenced for śrāddha; the verse ultimately glorifies Hṛṣīkeśa-darśana during Cāturmāsya.
Gayā-śrāddha performed in Pitṛpakṣa, contrasted with the Cāturmāsya practice of steady devotion leading to Hṛṣīkeśa’s vision.