Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 50

Devanagari script

मया सतीवियोगार्तियुक्तेन सुरसत्तम । लिंगमेतत्परित्यक्तं शापव्याजाद्द्विजन्मनाम्

Transliteration

mayā satīviyogārtiyuktena surasattama | liṃgametatparityaktaṃ śāpavyājāddvijanmanām

Translation

O Bester der Götter, vom Schmerz der Trennung von Satī gequält, gab ich diesen Liṅga auf — unter dem Vorwand eines Fluches, den die Zweimalgeborenen ausgesprochen hätten.

Word by Word

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Kartr (Agent in passive sense/कर्तृ)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• satī-viyoga-ārti-yuktena: by one afflicted with the pain of separation from Satī
• satī-viyoga-ārti-yuktena: Karana (Instrumental qualifier/करण-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: satī (प्रातिपदिक) + viyoga (प्रातिपदिक) + ārti (प्रातिपदिक) + yukta (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; विशेषण (to mayā); तत्पुरुष-श्रृङ्खला (satīyāḥ viyogaḥ → viyoga-ārti; tayā yuktaḥ)

• surasattama: O best of the gods
• surasattama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura (प्रातिपदिक) + sattama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (surāṇāṃ sattamaḥ)

• liṅgam: the liṅga
• liṅgam: Karma (Object in passive/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: liṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम-विशेषण, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण (to liṅgam)

• parityaktam: was abandoned, was left
• parityaktam: Kriya (Predicate in passive/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari + √tyaj (त्यज् धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे (past passive participle)

• śāpa-vyājāt: because of the pretext of a curse
• śāpa-vyājāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + vyāja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (śāpasya vyājaḥ)

• dvijanmanām: of the twice-born (Brahmins)
• dvijanmanām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvijanman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

Speaker

Śiva (Devadeva/Vṛṣabhadhvaja)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devas (addressed as surasattama in singular honorific)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva speaks in confession: sorrow-stricken from Satī’s separation, he abandoned the liṅga; a ‘curse’ by brāhmaṇas is mentioned as a narrative pretext—suggesting sages with raised hands, yet the deeper cause is viraha.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Satī
• Brāhmaṇāḥ (Dvijanman)
• Liṅga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even divine narratives acknowledge grief; yet dharma is upheld through restoration—turning sorrow into renewed sacred order.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage serves as an origin-story (etiology) for a Liṅga-centered tīrtha within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription; it sets the theological background for why Liṅga-pūjā and protection of the sacred emblem are meritorious.