Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

काश्चिदर्द्धानुलिप्तांग्यः काश्चिदेकांजितेक्षणाः । अर्धसंयमितैः कैशैस्तथान्यास्त्यक्तबालकाः

Transliteration

kāścidarddhānuliptāṃgyaḥ kāścidekāṃjitekṣaṇāḥ | ardhasaṃyamitaiḥ kaiśaistathānyāstyaktabālakāḥ

Translation

كانت بعضهنّ قد دهنت نصف أجسادهنّ فحسب، وبعضهنّ كحّلن عينًا واحدة فقط. وبعضهنّ لم يربطن الشعر إلا نصف ربط، وأخرياتُهنّ، وقد فُزعن، تركن الأطفال وراءهنّ واندفعن خارجًا.

Word by Word

• kāścit: some (women)
• kāścit: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन; अनिश्चित-प्रयोग (indefinite: ‘some’)

• ardha-anulipta-aṅgyaḥ: whose limbs are half-smeared (with unguent)
• ardha-anulipta-aṅgyaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival to kāścit)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ardha (प्रातिपदिक) + anu-lip (धातु) → anulipta (कृदन्त) + aṅgī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन; समासः (ardhena anuliptā aṅgāni yāsām) — ‘अर्धानुलिप्ताङ्गी’ बहुव्रीह्यर्थे प्रयुक्तः, परन्तु रूपेण तत्पुरुष-समास-श्रृङ्खला

• kāścit: some (women)
• kāścit: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन; अनिश्चित-प्रयोग

• eka-añjita-īkṣaṇāḥ: with one eye anointed/painted
• eka-añjita-īkṣaṇāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival to kāścit)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + añj (धातु) → añjita (कृदन्त) + īkṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन; समासः (ekam īkṣaṇam añjitam yāsām)

• ardha-saṃyamitaiḥ: half-tied/half-restrained
• ardha-saṃyamitaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ardha (प्रातिपदिक) + sam-yam (धातु) → saṃyamita (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; तृतीया (Instrumental); बहुवचन; भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त; समासः (ardhena saṃyamitaiḥ)

• keśaiḥ: with (their) hair
• keśaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: keśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया (Instrumental); बहुवचन

• tathā: thus, likewise
• tathā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण

• anyāḥ: others (women)
• anyāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन

• tyakta-bālakāḥ: having abandoned (their) children
• tyakta-bālakāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival to anyāḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tyakta (कृदन्त) + bālaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन; समासः (tyaktāḥ bālakāḥ yāsām) — ‘having left (their) children’

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating to the sages (contextual deduction for Māhātmya-style narration)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Close-up vignettes: one woman half anointed with oil/paste, another with only one eye lined, hair half-tied; a mother stepping out abruptly while a child remains behind; all moving toward the same focal point off-frame.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Worldly attraction and sudden agitation are shown as unstable; the Māhātmya narrative prepares the reader for the deeper dharmic consequences that follow.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya setting; the exact named tīrtha is not stated in this verse alone.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it is descriptive narrative imagery.