Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 4

Devanagari script

संध्यास्नापरित्यक्तो गंधमाल्यांबरप्रियः । कुस्त्रीसक्तः कुमार्गस्थो यथा पूर्वमजामिलः

Transliteration

saṃdhyāsnāparityakto gaṃdhamālyāṃbarapriyaḥ | kustrīsaktaḥ kumārgastho yathā pūrvamajāmilaḥ

Translation

Er gab das Sandhyā-Gebet zur Dämmerung und das rituelle Bad auf; er liebte Düfte, Blumengirlanden und kostbare Gewänder. An eine sittenlose Frau gebunden, geriet er auf den Irrweg, wie einst Ajāmila.

Word by Word

• संध्या-स्ना-परित्यक्तः: having abandoned twilight-bath (ritual)
• संध्या-स्ना-परित्यक्तः: Karta (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संध्या (प्रातिपदिक) + स्ना (प्रातिपदिक; स्नान) + परि-त्यज् (धातु) → त्यक्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त); तत्पुरुष-समास (संध्यायाः स्नानं परित्यक्तः)

• गंध-माल्य-अंबर-प्रियः: fond of perfumes, garlands, and fine clothes
• गंध-माल्य-अंबर-प्रियः: Karta (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गंध (प्रातिपदिक) + माल्य (प्रातिपदिक) + अंबर (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समाहार-द्वन्द्व/समुच्चयार्थ (गंधं च माल्यं च अंबरं च प्रियं यस्य)

• कु-स्त्री-सक्तः: attached to immoral women
• कु-स्त्री-सक्तः: Karta (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कु (अव्यय-उपसर्ग/निन्दार्थ) + स्त्री (प्रातिपदिक) + सक्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √सञ्ज्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त); तत्पुरुष-समास (कुस्त्रियां सक्तः)

• कु-मार्ग-स्थः: standing on the wrong path
• कु-मार्ग-स्थः: Karta (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कु (अव्यय-उपसर्ग/निन्दार्थ) + मार्ग (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √स्था)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कृदन्त (क्त/स्थ-प्रत्ययान्त); तत्पुरुष-समास (कुमार्गे स्थितः)

• यथा: as/like
• यथा: Sambandha (Comparison/उपमान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमान/प्रकारवाचक (comparative/‘as, like’)

• पूर्वम्: formerly
• पूर्वम्: Kala (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पूर्वम् (अव्यय; पूर्व-प्रातिपदिकात्)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (temporal adverb)

• अजामिलः: Ajāmila
• अजामिलः: Upamana (Standard of comparison/उपमान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अजामिल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator; specific speaker not explicit in this snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Āvantya (Ujjayinī-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Mandara neglects sandhyā and snāna, adorning himself with perfumes and garlands, stepping onto a ‘wrong path’; a faint visual echo of Ajāmila’s story hovers as a moral mirror.

Characters & Entities

• Ajāmila

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Neglect of daily dharma (sandhyā worship, purity practices) combined with harmful company leads one onto a destructive path.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tirtha is praised in this verse; it functions as moral framing within the Avanti-set narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It implicitly upholds sandhyā worship and snāna (ritual bathing) as obligatory daily disciplines, by condemning their abandonment.