Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

कुरुक्षेत्रं समुद्दिश्य प्रतस्थे स ततः परम् । सुश्रांतः क्षुत्पिपासार्तो मार्गपृच्छापरायणः

Transliteration

kurukṣetraṃ samuddiśya pratasthe sa tataḥ param | suśrāṃtaḥ kṣutpipāsārto mārgapṛcchāparāyaṇaḥ

Translation

Dann brach er auf, Kurukṣetra als Ziel vor Augen. Von Hunger und Durst gequält und völlig erschöpft, zog er weiter und fragte immer wieder nach dem Weg.

Word by Word

• kuru-kṣetram: Kurukṣetra
• kuru-kṣetram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kuru (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; तत्पुरुष-समासः (‘कुरूणां क्षेत्रम्’)

• samuddiśya: having aimed at / intending
• samuddiśya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ud-√diś (दिश्) (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund)

• pratasthe: set out
• pratasthe: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√sthā (स्था) (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; सर्वनाम

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb) ‘thereafter’

• param: further
• param: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् क्रियाविशेषण (adverbial accusative) ‘further/onward’

• su-śrāntaḥ: very weary
• su-śrāntaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su (अव्यय/उपसर्गवत्) + śrānta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √śram (श्रम्))
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; भूतकृदन्त ‘श्रान्त’; अव्ययीभाव ‘सु+श्रान्त’ = ‘very tired’

• kṣut-pipāsā-ārtaḥ: afflicted by hunger and thirst
• kṣut-pipāsā-ārtaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṣut (प्रातिपदिक) + pipāsā (प्रातिपदिक) + ārta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √ar/√ṛ (ऋ) ‘to be afflicted’)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; द्वन्द्व-समासः (क्षुत् च पिपासा च) + ‘आर्त’ (afflicted)

• mārga-pṛcchā-parāyaṇaḥ: intent on asking the way
• mārga-pṛcchā-parāyaṇaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mārga (प्रातिपदिक) + pṛcchā (प्रातिपदिक) + parāyaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; तत्पुरुष-समासः (‘मार्गस्य पृच्छायां परायणः’ = ‘devoted to asking the way’)

Speaker

Narrator (within Sūta's narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kurukṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A lone royal traveler on dusty roads toward Kurukṣetra, visibly exhausted, parched, stopping to ask villagers for directions; distant sacred plain with flags and hermitage groves hinted on horizon.

Characters & Entities

• Kurukṣetra
• Triśaṅku (contextual traveler)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A tīrtha-journey often involves hardship; endurance and purposeful movement toward sacred space is itself a dharmic discipline.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kurukṣetra is explicitly named as the sacred destination.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None stated; the verse emphasizes pilgrimage travel rather than a specific rite.