Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 48

Devanagari script

न पित्रोरधिकं किंचित्त्रिलोक्यां तनयस्य हि । गर्भधारणपोषाभ्यां पितुर्माता गरीयसी

Transliteration

na pitroradhikaṃ kiṃcittrilokyāṃ tanayasya hi | garbhadhāraṇapoṣābhyāṃ piturmātā garīyasī

Translation

对儿子而言，三界之中没有什么胜过父母；而因怀胎承载并哺育养育，母亲比父亲更为尊贵可敬。

Word by Word

• na: not
• na: Sambandha
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध (negative particle)

• pitroḥ: than the parents / of the parents
• pitroḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, द्विवचन

• adhikam: greater, superior
• adhikam: Karta (Predicate nominal/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: adhika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; predicate adjective with kiṃcit

• kiṃcit: anything
• kiṃcit: Karta (Predicate nominal/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kiṃcit (सर्वनाम/अव्ययप्राय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; अनिश्चितवाचक (indefinite ‘anything’)

• trilokyām: in the three worlds
• trilokyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्विगुसमास (‘three worlds’), स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine; lokī/ lokā as ‘world’ in locative), सप्तमी, एकवचन

• tanayasya: for a son / of the son
• tanayasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tanaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात: निश्चयार्थ (indeed)

• garbha-dhāraṇa-poṣābhyām: by (her) bearing (the fetus) and nourishing
• garbha-dhāraṇa-poṣābhyām: Karana (Instrument/Reason/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: garbha (प्रातिपदिक) + dhāraṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + poṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वन्द्वसमास (itaretara: ‘bearing (in womb) and nourishing’), तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), द्विवचन (dual)

• pituḥ: than the father / of the father
• pituḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• mātā: mother
• mātā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mātṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), प्रथमा, एकवचन

• garīyasī: is greater
• garīyasī: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: garīyas (प्रातिपदिक; comparative of guru)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; तुलनात्मक (comparative): ‘more weighty/greater’

Speaker

Nārada (continued discourse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mātṛ-tīrtha (conceptual)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Vaiśvānara and narrative audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A tender tableau: the mother seated with gentle gravity, father beside; the son bows, acknowledging the mother’s greater burden of pregnancy and nurture; Nārada’s presence sanctifies the teaching.

Characters & Entities

• Mother
• Father

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Parents are supreme objects of reverence, with special emphasis on the mother’s sacrifice in pregnancy and upbringing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No physical site; the teaching frames parents—especially the mother—as spiritually ‘greater’ than worldly attainments.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual; it implicitly prescribes honoring and serving parents, especially one’s mother.