Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 91

Devanagari script

तस्य नष्टं मृतं कायं तच्च जीर्णं पुरोद्भवम् । यदासीदक्षयं नित्यं तस्मिंस्तोये व्यवस्थितम्

Transliteration

tasya naṣṭaṃ mṛtaṃ kāyaṃ tacca jīrṇaṃ purodbhavam | yadāsīdakṣayaṃ nityaṃ tasmiṃstoye vyavasthitam

Translation

Sein Leib – gleichsam verloren, gleichsam tot und vom früheren Dasein gealtert – wurde beiseitegelegt; doch das Unvergängliche und Ewige in ihm blieb in jenem heiligen Wasser gegründet.

Word by Word

• tasya: of him
• tasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी, एकवचन; 'of him'

• naṣṭam: lost/destroyed
• naṣṭam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √naś (धातु) → naṣṭa (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; qualifying 'kāyam'

• mṛtam: dead
• mṛtam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √mṛ (धातु) → mṛta (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; qualifying 'kāyam'

• kāyam: body
• kāyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (here neuter sense 'body'); द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• tat: that
• tat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; 'that' (referring to body)

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

• jīrṇam: decayed
• jīrṇam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √jṛ (धातु) → jīrṇa (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; 'worn out/decayed'

• purodbhavam: formerly arisen/previous
• purodbhavam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: puraḥ (अव्यय/उपसर्गार्थ) + udbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; 'पूर्वम् उद्भवः' = formerly arisen/previously existing; नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; qualifying 'kāyam'

• yat: which
• yat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन; relative pronoun 'which'

• āsīt: was
• āsīt: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √as (धातु)
• Form: लङ्-लकार (Imperfect/past); प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; 'was'

• akṣayam: imperishable
• akṣayam: Karma (Complement/पूरक)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: akṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; 'imperishable' (predicate complement of 'yat ... āsīt')

• nityam: always
• nityam: Adhikarana (Temporal/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nitya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रयोग (क्रियाविशेषण) = always/constantly

• tasmin: in that
• tasmin: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन; 'in that'

• toye: in the water
• toye: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: toya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी, एकवचन; 'in water'

• vyavasthitam: was situated/established
• vyavasthitam: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi-ava-√sthā (धातु) → vyavasthita (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन; 'situated/established' (agreeing with 'yat')

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: nṛpa (king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic scene: a worn, lifeless body set aside on the bank, while a luminous, subtle essence remains poised within shimmering sacred water—suggesting the eternal abiding beyond decay.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The perishable body falls away, but the imperishable spiritual principle and accrued sacred merit abide through the power of a tīrtha.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A sacred water-body (tīrtha-salila) within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya context; the verse emphasizes the sanctity of the water itself.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, reverent contact with the tīrtha-water (snāna/immersion) as the medium through which purification and enduring merit are affirmed.