Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 25

Devanagari script

सोऽपि तच्चक्रमालोक्य वासुदेवकराच्च्युतम् । आगच्छंतं प्रसार्यास्यं ग्रस्तुं तत्संमुखो ययौ

Transliteration

so'pi taccakramālokya vāsudevakarāccyutam | āgacchaṃtaṃ prasāryāsyaṃ grastuṃ tatsaṃmukho yayau

Translation

فلما رأى القرص المقدّس وقد أُطلق من يد فاسوديفا مقبلاً نحوه، فتح هو أيضًا فاه على اتّساعه ليبتلعه، وتقدّم مباشرةً لملاقاته وجهًا لوجه.

Word by Word

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — कर्ता

• api: also
• api: Sambandha-dyotaka (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि-अव्यय (particle: also/even)

• tat-cakram: that discus
• tat-cakram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + cakra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — कर्म (object of ‘ālokya’); ‘that discus’

• ālokya: having seen
• ālokya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ā + lok (धातु) + त्वा (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त कृदन्त (gerund) — ‘having seen’

• vāsudeva-karāt: from Vāsudeva's hand
• vāsudeva-karāt: Apādāna (Ablative source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāsudeva (प्रातिपदिक) + kara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन — अपादान (source/ablative)

• cyutam: released, fallen forth
• cyutam: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: cyu (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP) ‘cyuta’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — विशेषणम् (qualifying ‘tat-cakram’): ‘fallen/released’

• āgacchantam: approaching
• āgacchantam: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ā + gam (धातु) + शतृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले परस्मैपदे शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (present active participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — विशेषणम् (qualifying ‘tat-cakram’): ‘coming/approaching’

• prasārya: having stretched out
• prasārya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: pra + sṛ (धातु) + णिच्? (causative sense) + त्वा (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त कृदन्त (gerund) — ‘having stretched/extended’ (context: mouth)

• āsyam: mouth
• āsyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āsya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — कर्म (object of ‘prasārya’)

• grastum: to swallow
• grastum: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: gras (धातु) + तुमुन् (कृदन्त)
• Form: तुमुनन्त (infinitive) — प्रयोजनार्थकः (‘in order to swallow’)

• tat-sammukhaḥ: facing it, confronting it
• tat-sammukhaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + sammukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — विशेषणम् (qualifying ‘saḥ’): ‘facing it’

• yayau: went, advanced
• yayau: Kriyā (Verbal action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yā (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/Perfect), परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — ‘he went’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Kālakhaṃja, facing the incoming flaming Sudarśana, opens his mouth wide in a desperate, arrogant attempt to swallow it, stepping forward to meet the spinning fire-disc head-on.

Characters & Entities

• Vāsudeva (Viṣṇu)
• Sudarśana Cakra
• Daitya (Kālakhaṃja implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pride makes one challenge what should be revered; attempting to ‘consume’ divine order leads to one’s own undoing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The line is within a tīrtha-māhātmya chapter but does not itself specify the tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse.