Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

यस्माल्लिंगार्थमागत्य ह्याश्रमांश्चोरवत्कृतम् । परदारापहरणं तल्लिङ्गं पततां भुवि

Transliteration

yasmālliṃgārthamāgatya hyāśramāṃścoravatkṛtam | paradārāpaharaṇaṃ talliṅgaṃ patatāṃ bhuvi

Translation

„Weil du um des Liṅga willen hierher kamst und in unseren Einsiedeleien wie ein Dieb gehandelt, die Frauen anderer geraubt hast—so falle jenes Liṅga auf die Erde!“

Word by Word

• यस्मात्: from which/wherefrom
• यस्मात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• लिङ्गार्थम्: for the sake of the liṅga
• लिङ्गार्थम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक) + अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (लिङ्गस्य अर्थः)

• आगत्य: having come
• आगत्य: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial to main action/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive), पूर्वक्रिया; धातु: गम्, उपसर्ग: आ

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle/emphatic)

• आश्रमान्: hermitages
• आश्रमान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आश्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन

• चोरवत्: like a thief
• चोरवत्: Kriya-viseshana (Manner/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: चोर (प्रातिपदिक) + वत् (तद्धित-प्रत्यय)
• Form: अव्यय-उपमा (adverbial comparison); ‘-वत्’ = like/as

• कृतम्: was done/committed
• कृतम्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त-क्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मणि-प्रयोगार्थक (done)

• परदारापहरणम्: abduction of another’s wife
• परदारापहरणम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक) + दारा (प्रातिपदिक) + अपहरण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (परस्य दाराणाम् अपहरणम्)

• तत्: that
• तत्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण (liṅgaṃ इति)

• लिङ्गम्: liṅga
• लिङ्गम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• पतताम्: of those who fall
• पतताम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्यय (present active participle) ‘पतत्’; षष्ठी-विभक्ति (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; ‘of those falling’

• भुवि: on the earth
• भुवि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भू (प्रातिपदिक: भुव्/भू)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th/Locative), एकवचन

Speaker

Dvijātayaḥ / Munayaḥ (the sages), cursing

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An elder sage points in condemnation while others echo; in the sky or above the ground, a radiant liṅga begins to descend, as if pulled by the force of the curse, toward the earth near the hermitage.

Characters & Entities

• Liṅga
• Āśrama
• Dvijātayaḥ (twice-born sages)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Violation of marital and āśrama boundaries is condemned as theft; dharma frames such acts as grave disorder requiring cosmic correction.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The tīrtha is not named in this verse; however, the falling of the liṅga commonly signals the emergence or sanctification of a sacred spot in māhātmya narratives.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse centers on a śāpa (curse) connected to the liṅga.