Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 20

Devanagari script

अक्षारलवणाशी च यो भवेद्ब्राह्मणोत्तमः । तस्यापि सकलाः पूर्ताः प्रभवंति सदा ततः

Transliteration

akṣāralavaṇāśī ca yo bhavedbrāhmaṇottamaḥ | tasyāpi sakalāḥ pūrtāḥ prabhavaṃti sadā tataḥ

Translation

又有那最上婆罗门，远离碱性与咸味之食；凭此持戒，其人亦恒常生起一切“补尔多”（pūrta，公益善业）之功德，圆满具足。

Word by Word

• akṣāra-lavaṇa-āśī: one who eats without alkali and salt
• akṣāra-lavaṇa-āśī: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-kṣāra (प्रातिपदिक) + lavaṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + āśin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (कर्मधारय/बहु-तत्पुरुष-प्राय: अ-नञ् + कषार; 'अक्षार' + 'लवण' + 'आशी' = 'अक्षारलवणाशी'); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध-सर्वनाम

• bhavet: should be; becomes
• bhavet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• brāhmaṇa-uttamaḥ: the best of brahmins
• brāhmaṇa-uttamaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ब्राह्मणानाम् उत्तमः); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• tasya: of him
• tasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• api: also; even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अपि (also/even)

• sakalāḥ: all
• sakalāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sakala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; विशेषण (agreeing with pūrtāḥ as feminine plural understood: pūrtāḥ [kriyāḥ/phalāni] etc.)

• pūrtāḥ: charitable/meritorious acts (pūrta works)
• pūrtāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pūrta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; 'पूर्त' (charitable works/meritorious acts)

• prabhavanti: arise; come to be
• prabhavanti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-bhū (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• sadā: always
• sadā: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of time)

• tataḥ: therefrom; thereafter
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय/तद्-प्रातिपदिकात्)
• Form: अव्यय; तस्मात्/ततः (ablatival adverb: from that/thereafter)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya didactic narration)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A learned brāhmaṇa seated in meditation with simple food (unsalted gruel/fruit) before him; behind, symbolic visions of wells, ghats, and rest-houses ‘arising’ as merit-forms.

Characters & Entities

• Brāhmaṇa
• Pūrta (works of public merit)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Food-discipline undertaken as a vow is treated as a powerful form of dharma that generates enduring merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tirtha is named in this verse; it functions as a general Cāturmāsya/Kārtika vrata instruction within a Tīrthamāhātmya frame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Observing a diet that avoids kṣāra (alkaline/caustic items) and lavaṇa (salt), especially as a vrata discipline.