Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

तदाहं जडवज्जातो वागुवाचाशरीरिणी । तपस्तप महाबुद्धे जडत्वं नोचितं तव

Transliteration

tadāhaṃ jaḍavajjāto vāguvācāśarīriṇī | tapastapa mahābuddhe jaḍatvaṃ nocitaṃ tava

Translation

Da wurde ich wie erstarrt; doch eine körperlose Stimme sprach: „Übe Tapas, o Großgesinnter. Solche Stumpfheit ziemt dir nicht.“

Word by Word

• तदा: then
• तदा: Kriya-vishesana (Temporal/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (कालवाचक) — adverb of time

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — Nominative singular

• जडवत्: like one stupefied
• जडवत्: Kriya-vishesana (Manner/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जड (प्रातिपदिक) + वत् (तद्धित)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रयोग/उपमानवाचक विशेषण — indeclinable-like comparative “like a dull (one)”

• जातः: became
• जातः: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त/PPP) पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — “born/became”

• वाक्: a voice
• वाक्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाच् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — Nominative singular

• उवाच: spoke
• उवाच: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन — “said/spoke”

• अशरीरिणी: bodiless
• अशरीरिणी: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ-शरीरिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — Nominative singular; नञ्-समास/उपपद: “bodiless” qualifying वाक्

• तपः: austerity
• तपः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन — Accusative singular (object of imperative)

• तप: perform (austerity)!
• तप: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: तप् (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन — “perform!”

• महाबुद्धे: O great-minded one
• महाबुद्धे: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + बुद्धि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (बुद्धि-शब्देन बहुव्रीह्यर्थे संबोधन), सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन — Vocative singular; कर्मधारय-समास “great-intellect(ed)”

• जडत्वम्: dullness
• जडत्वम्: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जडत्व (प्रातिपदिक; तद्धित -त्व)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — “dullness/stupor”

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निषेध) — negation particle

• उचितम्: appropriate
• उचितम्: Kriya-visheshana (Predicate/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उचित (प्रातिपदिक; क्त/PPP from वच्/उच् in sense ‘be fitting’)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — “fitting/appropriate” (predicate)

• तव: for you; of you
• तव: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन — Genitive singular pronoun

Speaker

Brahmā (narrating; addressed by an incorporeal voice)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A creator figure sits stunned and inert; from the sky descends a luminous, unseen voice visualized as a radiant script-like stream or a haloed sound-wave, commanding tapas; the atmosphere shifts from heaviness to alertness.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā
• Aśarīriṇī Vāk (incorporeal voice)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

When inner dullness arises, the dhārmic remedy is disciplined tapas—spiritual effort that restores clarity and purpose.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse functions as cosmological framing within the Tīrthamāhātmya; it does not name a specific tīrtha in this line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Tapaḥ (austerity/penance) is directly enjoined as the means to overcome inertia and enable sacred action.