Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

तस्मिंस्तीर्थे नरश्रेष्ठ सद्गतिं समवाप्नुयात् । न्यायोपात्तधनेनैव दारुपाषाणकेष्टकैः

Transliteration

tasmiṃstīrthe naraśreṣṭha sadgatiṃ samavāpnuyāt | nyāyopāttadhanenaiva dārupāṣāṇakeṣṭakaiḥ

Translation

Hỡi bậc nam tử ưu tú, tại tīrtha ấy người ấy đạt thiện thú—chỉ dùng tài vật có được theo Chánh pháp, dựng (thánh điện) bằng gỗ, đá và gạch.

Word by Word

• तस्मिन्: in that
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; निर्देशार्थ

• तीर्थे: pilgrimage place
• तीर्थे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• नरश्रेष्ठ: O best of men
• नरश्रेष्ठ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर + श्रेष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक-द्वय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (श्रेष्ठः नरः)

• सद्गतिम्: good destiny
• सद्गतिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत् + गति (प्रातिपदिक-द्वय)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मधारय (सत्-गति)

• समवाप्नुयात्: may attain
• समवाप्नुयात्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अव् (धातु) उपसर्ग: सम्+अव; (समवाप्नोति)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• न्यायोपात्तधनेन: with wealth acquired lawfully
• न्यायोपात्तधनेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: न्याय + उपात्त + धन (प्रातिपदिक-त्रय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; समासः: तत्पुरुष (न्यायेन उपात्तं धनं येन)

• एव: indeed/only
• एव: Discourse/Particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपातः (restrictive/emphatic)

• दारु: with wood
• दारु: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दारु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन (समाहार-समुच्चयार्थे)

• पाषाण: with stones
• पाषाण: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाषाण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन (समाहार-समुच्चयार्थे)

• इष्टकैः: with bricks
• इष्टकैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इष्टका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya (contextual address: naraśreṣṭha)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (unspecified sub-tīrtha)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: naraśreṣṭha (addressed interlocutor; likely a king/elite listener in frame narrative)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A patron offers stacks of bricks, dressed stone blocks, and timber at a riverside shrine site; a scribe records donations; a priest blesses the materials; the patron’s hands are shown in añjali, signifying purity and rightful intent.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Religious works must be funded by righteous earnings; such dharmic giving at a tīrtha leads to sadgati (auspicious destiny).

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The same Revā Khaṇḍa tīrtha under discussion (Karoḍeśvara/related shrine precinct).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Temple/shrine construction using lawful wealth and materials like wood, stone, and bricks.