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

Die Schlangenfrau, in Ohnmacht gefallen, wurde im Schutz der zusammengelegten Flügel (Vinatās) gehalten. In ihrer Erregung wollte sie etwas sagen, doch stieß sie stattdessen hervor: «sakhyulkāni…».

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.