Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 14

Devanagari script

किं वा हरेण तुष्टेन किं वा देवेन चक्रिणा । नान्यप्रबोधितस्यैवं ज्ञानं संजायते स्फुटम्

Transliteration

kiṃ vā hareṇa tuṣṭena kiṃ vā devena cakriṇā | nānyaprabodhitasyaivaṃ jñānaṃ saṃjāyate sphuṭam

Translation

„Oder war es Hari, der dir gewogen war, oder der Herr, der das Diskusrad trägt? Denn ohne von einem anderen erweckt zu werden, entsteht ein so klares Wissen nicht.“

Word by Word

• kim: whether
• kim: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रश्नार्थक — ‘whether?’

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Disjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (विकल्पार्थक) — ‘or’

• hareṇa: by Hari
• hareṇa: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hari (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन — ‘by Hari (Viṣṇu)’

• tuṣṭena: pleased
• tuṣṭena: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tuṣṭa (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; ‘pleased’ — ‘hareṇa’ विशेषणम्

• kim: whether
• kim: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रश्नार्थक — ‘whether?’

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Disjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (विकल्प) — ‘or’

• devena: by the god
• devena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन — ‘by the god’

• cakriṇā: by the discus-bearer
• cakriṇā: Viśeṣaṇa (Appositional/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cakrin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; ‘the discus-bearer’ (Viṣṇu) — ‘devena’ विशेषणम्

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (निषेध)

• anya-prabodhitasya: of one instructed by another
• anya-prabodhitasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक) + prabodhita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसक? षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (कर्मधारय/षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषभाव) ‘अन्येन प्रबोधितः’ → ‘one instructed by another’; अत्र षष्ठी-सम्बन्धः ‘(तस्य) ज्ञानम्’

• evam: thus
• evam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Manner/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (प्रकार) — ‘thus’

• jñānam: knowledge
• jñānam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jñāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• saṃjāyate: arises
• saṃjāyate: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam√jan (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद; ‘arises/comes into being’

• sphuṭam: clearly
• sphuṭam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Manner/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sphuṭa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् क्रियाविशेषण (नपुंसक एकवचन रूपेण) — ‘clearly, distinctly’

Speaker

Ṛtvijaḥ (the priests), addressing the jñānī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Listeners invoke possibilities: Hari or the discus-bearing Lord; a faint imagined vision of Viṣṇu with Sudarśana may appear behind the sage as a symbolic overlay.

Characters & Entities

• Hari
• Viṣṇu (Cakrin)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Clear realization is portrayed as the fruit of awakening—received through instruction or grace—rather than mere self-assertion.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse focuses on spiritual causality (prabodha) rather than ritual.