Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 8
Devanagari script
कफरोगबहुश्वासश्लथन्नाडीबहुव्यथाम् । विध्वस्तकेशावयवामपश्यं मरणोन्मुखीम्
Transliteration
kapharogabahuśvāsaślathannāḍībahuvyathām | vidhvastakeśāvayavāmapaśyaṃ maraṇonmukhīm
Translation
Ich sah sie gequält von verschleimter Krankheit und schwerem Atem, ihre Nerven schlaff und voller Schmerzen; ihr Haar und ihre Glieder ruiniert – sie blickte dem Tod ins Auge.
Word by Word
kapha-roga-bahu-śvāsa-ślathat-nāḍī-bahu-vyathāmhaving much pain, with phlegm-disease, heavy breathing, and slackened channels (nāḍīs)
kapha-roga-bahu-śvāsa-ślathat-nāḍī-bahu-vyathām:
Karma (Object/कर्म)
TypeAdjective
Rootkapha (प्रातिपदिक) + roga (प्रातिपदिक) + bahu (प्रातिपदिक) + śvāsa (प्रातिपदिक) + ślathat (कृदन्त; वर्तमानकृदन्त/शतृ; √ślath (धातु)) + nāḍī (प्रातिपदिक) + bahu (प्रातिपदिक) + vyathā (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (बहुपद); विशेष्यः (स्त्री)
vidhvasta-keśa-avayavāmwith ruined hair and limbs
vidhvasta-keśa-avayavām:
Karma (Object/कर्म)
TypeAdjective
Rootvidhvasta (कृदन्त; √dhvaṃs (धातु) वि-उपसर्ग) + keśa (प्रातिपदिक) + avayava (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः; विशेष्यः (स्त्री)
apaśyamI saw
apaśyam:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeVerb
Root√dṛś (धातु) (पश्य)
Formलङ्-लकार (Imperfect/Past), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्
maraṇa-unmukhīmfacing death, on the verge of dying
maraṇa-unmukhīm:
Karma (Object/कर्म)
TypeAdjective
Rootmaraṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + unmukhī (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः; विशेष्यः (स्त्री)
Speaker
Narrator (first-person voice in the passage; exact attribution not in excerpt)
Visual Art Cues
Scene: A near-death figure: hair disheveled, limbs failing, breath labored; the witness stands in silent compassion, the scene quieting into inevitability.
FAQs
The verse confronts mortality directly, encouraging urgency in dharma and the cultivation of compassion toward the suffering.
No tīrtha is mentioned in this verse.
None in this verse.