Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

याः कुर्वंति स्त्रियो लोके जायापत्योश्च विप्रियम् । तासां कौमारवैधव्यमेकविंशतिजन्मसु

Transliteration

yāḥ kurvaṃti striyo loke jāyāpatyośca vipriyam | tāsāṃ kaumāravaidhavyamekaviṃśatijanmasu

Translation

Jene Frauen in der Welt, die Feindschaft und Zwietracht zwischen Gattin und Gatten stiften—für sie gibt es Witwenschaft schon von der Jungfräulichkeit an, über einundzwanzig Geburten hinweg.

Word by Word

• yāḥ: who (women)
• yāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन; यत्-प्रत्यय (relative pronoun)

• kurvanti: do/make
• kurvanti: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• striyaḥ: women
• striyaḥ: Karta (Subject apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: strī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन

• loke: in the world
• loke: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी/अधिकरण (7th case), एकवचन

• jāyā-patyoḥ: of wife and husband
• jāyā-patyoḥ: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jāyā (प्रातिपदिक) + pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी/सम्बन्ध (6th case), द्विवचन; द्वन्द्वः (जायाश्च पत्योश्च)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक (conjunction)

• vipriyam: what is displeasing / harm
• vipriyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipriya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/कर्म (2nd case), एकवचन

• tāsām: of them
• tāsām: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी/सम्बन्ध (6th case), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• kaumāra-vaidhavyam: widowhood from maidenhood (early widowhood)
• kaumāra-vaidhavyam: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kaumāra (प्रातिपदिक) + vaidhavya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (कौमारे वैधव्यम्/कौमार-वैधव्यम्)

• eka-viṃśati-janmasu: in twenty-one births
• eka-viṃśati-janmasu: Adhikarana (Locus/Extent/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: eka (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + viṃśati (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + janman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी/अधिकरण (7th case), बहुवचन; द्विगु-समासः (एकविंशतिः जन्मानि)

Speaker

Unclear from excerpt (didactic/narrative voice within Brahmottarakhaṇḍa)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An allegorical scene: women sowing seeds of quarrel between a couple, while a stern cosmic ledger records ‘21 births’; a maiden in white stands as a symbol of ‘kāumara-vaidhavya’.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Interfering destructively in marital bonds is treated as a grave adharma with long-lasting karmic consequences.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is glorified in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it states a karmic principle (karma-phala).