Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

ऋषय ऊचुः । प्रायश्चित्तं समादिष्टं महामांसस्य भक्षणात् । प्रतिग्रहस्य भूपाला दापत्कालेऽपि नो नृप

Transliteration

ṛṣaya ūcuḥ | prāyaścittaṃ samādiṣṭaṃ mahāmāṃsasya bhakṣaṇāt | pratigrahasya bhūpālā dāpatkāle'pi no nṛpa

Translation

ঋষিরা বললেন—“মহামাংস ভক্ষণের জন্য প্রায়শ্চিত্ত বিধান করা হয়েছে; আর হে ভূপাল, বিপদের সময়েও আমাদের জন্য প্রতিগ্রহ (দান গ্রহণ) শোভন নয়, হে নৃপ।”

Word by Word

• ṛṣayaḥ: the sages
• ṛṣayaḥ: Karta (Speaker/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ṛṣi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• ūcuḥ: said
• ūcuḥ: Kriya (Main verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• prāyaścittam: expiation
• prāyaścittam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prāyaścitta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• samādiṣṭam: has been prescribed
• samādiṣṭam: Kriya (Predicate in passive/क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam + ā + diś (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘prescribed/ordained’

• mahā-māṃsasya: of great flesh (human flesh)
• mahā-māṃsasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + māṃsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• bhakṣaṇāt: from eating
• bhakṣaṇāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhakṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन; हेत्वर्थे (because of/from eating)

• pratigrahasya: of accepting gifts
• pratigrahasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pratigraha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• bhūpālāḥ: O kings/protectors of earth
• bhūpālāḥ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūpāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/vocative), बहुवचन

• dāpat-kāle: in time of distress
• dāpat-kāle: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dāpat (प्रातिपदिक; ‘calamity’) + kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (time of calamity); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

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

• naḥ: for us/of us
• naḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th) बहुवचन (enclitic); ‘of us/our’

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

Speaker

Ṛṣis (Sages)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Vṛṣādarbhī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The sages respond with calm firmness: they acknowledge expiation for eating gross flesh, yet refuse the king’s gift even in calamity, embodying austere restraint.

Characters & Entities

• Ṛṣis
• Vṛṣādarbhī (addressed)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purity is guarded by discipline: wrongdoing demands expiation, and renunciants uphold restraint in accepting gifts, even under hardship.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not specified in this verse; it is doctrinal dialogue within the tīrtha-māhātmya narrative arc.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Prāyaścitta (expiation) is explicitly referenced; the exact form is not detailed in this verse.