Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 38

Devanagari script

मूर्च्छां गतवती पक्षपुटौ धृत्वा बिडोरगी । सख्युल्कानि पतेदेषा वक्तव्ये त्विति संभ्रमात्

Transliteration

mūrcchāṃ gatavatī pakṣapuṭau dhṛtvā biḍoragī | sakhyulkāni patedeṣā vaktavye tviti saṃbhramāt

Translation

মূর্ছিতা সর্পিণীকে বিনতা নিজের ভাঁজ-করা ডানার আশ্রয়ে ধরে রাখলেন। বিভ্রান্তি ও উৎকণ্ঠায় সে যা বলতে চেয়েছিল, তার বদলে হঠাৎ ‘সখ্যুল্কানি…’ বলে ফেলে দিল।

Word by Word

• मूर्च्छाम्: fainting, swoon
• मूर्च्छाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मूर्च्छा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन

• गतवती: having gone into (having fallen into)
• गतवती: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु) + गतवत् (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकृत् (क्तवत्-प्रत्यय), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘gone/entered’ (past participial)

• पक्षपुटौ: the two wing-folds
• पक्षपुटौ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + पुट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (पक्षयोः पुटौ)

• धृत्वा: having held
• धृत्वा: Kriya (Gerund/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: धृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्यय (अव्यय-भावे), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया; ‘having held’

• बिडोरगी: Biḍoragī (a female serpent/being, proper name)
• बिडोरगी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बिडोरगी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; जातिवाचक-नाम

• सखि: O friend
• सखि: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सखि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-प्रथमा (सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• उल्कानि: meteors, firebrands
• उल्कानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उल्का (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• पतेत्: may fall
• पतेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• एषा: this (she)
• एषा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• वक्तव्ये: at the time of speaking / in what was to be said
• वक्तव्ये: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वच् (धातु) + वक्तव्य (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भावे/कर्मणि कृत्य (तव्यत्), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘when/while it was to be said’

• तु: but, indeed
• तु: Discourse (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (emphatic/contrastive particle)

• इति: thus
• इति: Discourse (Quotation/उद्धरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उद्धरण-चिह्न (quotative particle)

• संभ्रमात्: from confusion, out of agitation
• संभ्रमात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संभ्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (अपादान), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (Skanda-to-Agastya framework for Kāśīkhaṇḍa)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Kadrū, a serpent-natured woman, swoons; Vinatā spreads and folds her wings like a shelter, cradling Kadrū; Kadrū’s mouth half-open as an unintended word slips out, attendants startled.

Characters & Entities

• Vinatā
• Kadrū

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Protection is portrayed as shelter (wings) offered in compassion; confusion and fear distort speech, showing the fragility of the mind under heat and distress.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None is named directly; the verse is narrative and etiological within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is story narration.