Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

नो चेद्धत्वाप्रहारेण यष्ट्या वज्रोपमेन च । प्रापयिष्यस्यसंदिग्धं धर्मराजनिवेशनम्

Transliteration

no ceddhatvāprahāreṇa yaṣṭyā vajropamena ca | prāpayiṣyasyasaṃdigdhaṃ dharmarājaniveśanam

Translation

Wenn nicht, dann—indem ich dich mit einem Stab niederschlage, dessen Hieb einem Donnerkeil gleicht—werde ich dich ohne jeden Zweifel in die Wohnstatt des Dharmarāja (Yama) senden.

Word by Word

• naḥ: not
• naḥ: Sambandha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय; ‘न’ (before vowel often ‘नो’)

• cet: if
• cet: Sambandha (Condition)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: cet (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्तबोधक अव्यय (conditional particle)

• hatvā: having struck
• hatvā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √han (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund); ‘हत्वा’ = having struck/killed

• prahāreṇa: with a blow
• prahāreṇa: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prahāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया एकवचनम् (Instr. sg.)

• yaṣṭyā: with a staff
• yaṣṭyā: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yaṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; तृतीया एकवचनम् (Instr. sg.)

• vajra-upamena: like a thunderbolt
• vajra-upamena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vajra (प्रातिपदिक) + upama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; तृतीया एकवचनम् (Instr. sg.); ‘वज्रवत् उपमः’ = like a thunderbolt

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• prāpayiṣyasi: you will make (them) reach
• prāpayiṣyasi: Kriyā (Main action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra√āp (धातु) (णिच् causative: prāpay-)
• Form: लृट् (भविष्यत्/Future); मध्यमपुरुष एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्; णिच्-प्रयोग (causative) = ‘प्रापयिष्यसि’

• asaṃdigdham: certainly, without doubt
• asaṃdigdham: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Certainty)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: asaṃdigdha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण अव्ययवत् (adverbial accusative); ‘असंदिग्धम्’ = without doubt

• dharmarāja-niveśanam: the abode of Dharmarāja (Yama)
• dharmarāja-niveśanam: Karma (Goal/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharmarāja (प्रातिपदिक) + niveśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचनम् (Acc. sg.); ‘धर्मराजस्य निवेशनम्’

Speaker

Unspecified (contextual speaker within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Lohajaṅgha raises a heavy staff like a thunderbolt, looming over the sages; in the background, a shadowy suggestion of Yama’s abode or a dark gateway symbolizes the threatened destination.

Characters & Entities

• Dharmarāja (Yama)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It stresses accountability under Dharma: wrongful conduct invites inevitable consequence, symbolized by being sent to Dharmarāja’s abode.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse itself is a warning within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya flow, but it does not name a specific tīrtha in the given line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it functions as an admonition about karmic and dharmic consequence.