Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

धिग्धिक्पापसमाचार जिह्वा ते शतधा ततः । किं न याति यदेवं त्वं प्रजल्पसि विगर्हितम्

Transliteration

dhigdhikpāpasamācāra jihvā te śatadhā tataḥ | kiṃ na yāti yadevaṃ tvaṃ prajalpasi vigarhitam

Translation

„Pfui, pfui über dich, du mit sündigem Wandel! Möge deine Zunge sogleich in hundert Stücke zerspringen. Warum fällt sie nicht ab, wenn du derart verwerfliche Worte schwatzst?“

Word by Word

• dhik: shame!
• dhik: Sambandha (Exclamation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: dhik (अव्यय)
• Form: निन्दार्थक अव्यय (interjection of censure)

• dhik: shame!
• dhik: Sambandha (Exclamation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: dhik (अव्यय)
• Form: निन्दार्थक अव्यय (repetition for emphasis)

• pāpa-samācāra: O evil-doer / of sinful conduct
• pāpa-samācāra: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + samācāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय समास (‘पापः समाचारः’), पुल्लिङ्ग (masculine), एकवचन (singular), सम्बोधन विभक्ति (Vocative)

• jihvā: tongue
• jihvā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jihvā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), एकवचन (singular), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative, 1st)

• te: your
• te: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), एकवचन (singular), षष्ठी विभक्ति (Genitive, 6th)

• śatadhā: into a hundred pieces
• śatadhā: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: śatadhā (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण अव्यय (adverb: ‘into a hundred parts’)

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Temporal/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: ‘then/thereupon’)

• kim: why? / what?
• kim: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रश्नवाचक सर्वनाम (interrogative pronoun), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), एकवचन (singular), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative, 1st)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय (negation particle)

• yāti: goes
• yāti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yā (धातु)
• Form: लट् लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपद

• yat: since / that
• yat: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय-रूपेण (indeclinable relative: ‘since/that’)

• evam: thus, in this way
• evam: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रकारवाचक अव्यय (adverb of manner)

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), एकवचन (singular), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative, 1st)

• prajalpasi: babble / speak forth
• prajalpasi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√jalp (धातु)
• Form: लट् लकार (Present), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपद

• vigarhitam: what is blameworthy
• vigarhitam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vigarhita (कृदन्त; vi-√garh)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past participle used substantively), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), एकवचन (singular), द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative, 2nd)

Speaker

Brāhmaṇas (dvijottamāḥ)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A lead brāhmaṇa points accusingly, face fierce; the condemned man recoils. The curse imagery is visceral—tongue splitting—shown symbolically as a jagged red lightning motif near the mouth rather than gore.

Characters & Entities

• dvijottamāḥ (implied speakers)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Speech is a karmic act; censurable words are treated as adharma and invite severe moral condemnation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as ethical rebuke within the larger tīrtha-narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse is a reprimand that leads into prāyaścitta reasoning.