Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 43

Devanagari script

यावन्मात्रं शरीरं तत्तस्य व्याप्तं महीपते । अमृतेन ततः कृत्तममोघेनापि तच्छिरः

Transliteration

yāvanmātraṃ śarīraṃ tattasya vyāptaṃ mahīpate | amṛtena tataḥ kṛttamamoghenāpi tacchiraḥ

Translation

O König, so weit sein Körper vom Nektar durchdrungen war, genau so weit wurde er unsterblich; aber sein Kopf, obwohl vom unfehlbaren Diskus niedergestreckt, war bereits abgetrennt, nachdem er das Amṛta gekostet hatte.

Word by Word

• yāvanmātram: as much as, to the extent of
• yāvanmātram: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yāvat + mātra (प्रातिपदिक-द्वय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; परिमाणवाचक विशेषण (śarīram इत्यस्य)

• śarīram: body
• śarīram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śarīra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन

• tat: that
• tat: Anuvāda (Resumptive/अनुवाद)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सर्वनाम; (अत्र ‘तत्’ = ‘that (body)’ पुनरुक्ति)

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

• vyāptam: pervaded, filled
• vyāptam: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vy-āp (आप् धातु) → vyāpta (क्त-प्रत्यय, कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘शरीरम्’ इत्यस्य विशेषण; ‘pervaded/filled’

• mahīpate: O king
• mahīpate: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahīpati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सम्बोधन-प्रथमा (vocative), एकवचन, पुंलिङ्ग; ‘महीपते’ = O lord of the earth

• amṛtena: with nectar, ambrosia
• amṛtena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: amṛta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (करण), एकवचन

• tataḥ: then, thereafter
• tataḥ: Kāla/Anantaram (Temporal/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अव्यय-प्रकारः: क्रियाविशेषण (adverb) ‘thereupon/then’

• kṛttam: cut off
• kṛttam: Kriyā (Predicative/क्रिया-भाव)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṛt (कृत् धातु) → kṛtta (क्त-प्रत्यय, कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; (तच्छिरः इत्यस्य/अर्थतः ‘it was cut’)

• amoghena: by the unfailing (weapon)
• amoghena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: amogha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण; (अस्त्र/चक्रस्य) ‘unfailing’

• api: also, even
• api: Sambandha-bodhaka (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle) ‘also/even’

• tat: that
• tat: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम; ‘śiraḥ’ इत्यस्य विशेषण

• śiraḥ: head
• śiraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiras (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (कर्ता/विषय), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (purāṇic ākhyāna voice) addressing a king (mahīpati)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: King (māhātmya addressee: 'महीपते')

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The discus severs the head; the portion touched by amṛta remains deathless—head and body separated, charged with eerie immortality.

Characters & Entities

• Amṛta
• Amogha (unfailing weapon, i.e., Viṣṇu's Sudarśana)
• Mahīpati (king)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even a momentary contact with sacred power (amṛta) has lasting consequences, yet divine order (dharma protected by the Lord’s unfailing power) prevails.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse sits within a Tīrthamāhātmya narrative in Nāgara Khaṇḍa; the immediate shloka focuses on the amṛta-episode rather than naming a single tīrtha explicitly.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual (snāna, dāna, japa) is prescribed in this verse; it is narrative groundwork for the māhātmya.