Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 22
दश वर्षाणि पञ्चैव तृप्तिं यांति पितामहः । पिंडदानेन दत्तेन पितॄणां तुष्टिमावहेत् । नरके तु स्थितानां च मुक्तिर्भूयान्न संशयः
daśa varṣāṇi pañcaiva tṛptiṃ yāṃti pitāmahaḥ | piṃḍadānena dattena pitṝṇāṃ tuṣṭimāvahet | narake tu sthitānāṃ ca muktirbhūyānna saṃśayaḥ
دس اور پانچ، یعنی پندرہ برس تک پِتر (آباء و اجداد) سیر و مطمئن رہتے ہیں۔ پِنڈ دان کی نذر سے پِتروں کو تسکین ملتی ہے؛ اور جو دوزخ میں ہوں اُن کے لیے بھی نجات بکثرت ہو جاتی ہے—اس میں کوئی شک نہیں۔
Īśvara (Śiva) (continuing the fruit of the rite described)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (śrāddha-tīrtha context)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A pilgrim at Prabhāsa offers rice-balls (piṇḍas) on darbha near a sacred water-edge; subtle ancestral figures receive the offering, with a distant vision of naraka dissolving into light.
FAQs
Compassion extends beyond the living: honoring ancestors through piṇḍadāna is portrayed as a powerful dharmic act with far-reaching spiritual relief.
The Mahākuṇḍa/associated tīrtha-zone in Prabhāsakṣetra, where bathing and ancestral offerings yield extraordinary merit.
Piṇḍadāna (ancestral rice-ball offering), connected with snāna and tarpaṇa at the Mahākuṇḍa, granting long-lasting Pitṛ satisfaction and even release for those in naraka.