Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 76

Devanagari script

दरिद्रोपहतास्तस्माद्वृषलीपतयस्तथा । वेदविक्रयकर्तारो भविष्यथ न संशयः

Transliteration

daridropahatāstasmādvṛṣalīpatayastathā | vedavikrayakartāro bhaviṣyatha na saṃśayaḥ

Translation

Darum, von Armut niedergeschlagen, werdet ihr zu Ehemännern von Śūdra-Frauen werden; und ihr werdet zu Verkäufern der Veda werden—ohne jeden Zweifel.

Word by Word

• दरिद्र-उपहताः: afflicted by poverty
• दरिद्र-उपहताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दरिद्र (प्रातिपदिक) + उपहत (कृदन्त; √हन् धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; उपहत = भूतकृदन्त (क्त), विशेषण-प्रयोगः

• तस्मात्: therefore
• तस्मात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय-प्रयोगः; अपादान/हेतु-अर्थे ("therefore/from that")

• वृषली-पतयः: husbands of śūdra-women
• वृषली-पतयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृषली (प्रातिपदिक) + पति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (वृषल्याः पतयः)

• तथा: also
• तथा: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय/उपमानार्थे ("also/likewise")

• वेद-विक्रय-कर्तारः: sellers of the Veda
• वेद-विक्रय-कर्तारः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेद (प्रातिपदिक) + विक्रय (प्रातिपदिक) + कर्तृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (वेदस्य विक्रयस्य कर्तारः)

• भविष्यथ: you will become
• भविष्यथ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √भू (धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (Simple Future), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• न: not
• न: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• संशयः: doubt
• संशयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संशय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

Speaker

Unspecified (addressing a plural group, likely the brāhmaṇas criticized in the immediately preceding verses)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A stern sage pronounces a curse in a sacrificial enclosure; patrons and officiants recoil as prosperity withers—symbolized by emptied granaries and broken ritual vessels.

Characters & Entities

• brāhmaṇas (implied)
• Veda
• daridra (poverty)
• vṛṣalī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Commercializing sacred knowledge and acting from greed is portrayed as adharma that leads to poverty, disgrace, and social-spiritual downfall.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is named in this verse; it is a moral warning embedded in a tīrtha-māhātmya chapter.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse condemns ‘selling the Veda’ and implies that sacred learning should be transmitted with dharmic restraint, not for profit.