Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

गोष्ठ्यां समागता ये तु तेषां पापं कुतः स्मृतम् । मातृपूजा गयाश्राद्धं सुतीर्थगमनं तथा । जागरस्य नृणां राजन्समानि कवयो विदुः

Transliteration

goṣṭhyāṃ samāgatā ye tu teṣāṃ pāpaṃ kutaḥ smṛtam | mātṛpūjā gayāśrāddhaṃ sutīrthagamanaṃ tathā | jāgarasya nṛṇāṃ rājansamāni kavayo viduḥ

Translation

至于在神圣会众中聚集的人——又怎能说他们有罪呢？礼敬圣母、在伽耶行施祖祭（śrāddha）、以及前往殊胜圣地（tīrtha）朝礼——诗贤皆知，这些与守夜之功德等同，噢，大王。

Word by Word

• goṣṭhyām: in the assembly/meeting
• goṣṭhyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: goṣṭhī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरण (locative)

• samāgatāḥ: assembled
• samāgatāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ā-√gam (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि/भूतकृत् (past participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; कर्तरि प्रयोगे ‘assembled/come together’

• ye: who
• ye: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धबोधक सर्वनाम

• tu: but/indeed
• tu: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), विरोध/विशेषार्थ

• teṣām: of them
• teṣām: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध (genitive)

• pāpam: sin
• pāpam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; विषय/कर्म (contextual)

• kutaḥ: from where/how
• kutaḥ: Sambandha (Interrogative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kutaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नाव्यय (interrogative adverb)

• smṛtam: is remembered/considered
• smṛtam: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √smṛ (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘is remembered/considered’

• mātṛpūjā: worship of mother
• mātṛpūjā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mātṛ (प्रातिपदिक) + pūjā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (मातुः पूजा)

• gayāśrāddham: Śrāddha at Gayā
• gayāśrāddham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gayā (प्रातिपदिक) + śrāddha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सप्तमी/षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषभावः (गयायां/गयायाः श्राद्धम्)

• sutīrthagamanam: going to a holy ford
• sutīrthagamanam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: su (उपसर्ग/उपपद) + tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक) + gamana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुषसमासभावः (सुतीर्थं गमनम्)

• tathā: and likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb/conjunction)

• jāgarasya: of the vigil (jāgara)
• jāgarasya: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jāgara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध (genitive)

• nṛṇām: of men
• nṛṇām: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध

• rājan: O king
• rājan: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• samāni: equal
• samāni: Kriya (Predicate complement/क्रियापूरक)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; विशेषण (predicate adjective)

• kavayaḥ: sages/poets
• kavayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kavi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• viduḥ: know/declare
• viduḥ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vid (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect/लिट्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; direct address 'rājan' indicates instruction to a king within the narrative frame)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dvārakā (jāgara-gōṣṭhī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Rājā (rājann)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A royal listener hears sages praise a Dvārakā vigil assembly; behind them, a vibrant gōṣṭhī with lamps and kīrtana; symbolic vignettes of Gayā-śrāddha and tīrtha-travel appear as smaller panels to show equivalence.

Characters & Entities

• Gayā
• Śrāddha
• Tīrtha
• Mātṛ (mother worship)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Company in devotional gatherings and the practice of jāgaraṇa are praised as highly meritorious, comparable to famed rites and pilgrimages.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dvārakā is the chapter’s setting, while Gayā is explicitly referenced as a benchmark tīrtha for śrāddha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Joining the devotional assembly (goṣṭhī) and performing jāgaraṇa; also references to mātṛpūjā and Gayā-śrāddha as comparable meritorious acts.