Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 26

Devanagari script

प्रमाणं कर्मभूतानां सुखदुःखोपपादने । सावधानतया यच्च जाग्रतां स्वपतामपि

Transliteration

pramāṇaṃ karmabhūtānāṃ sukhaduḥkhopapādane | sāvadhānatayā yacca jāgratāṃ svapatāmapi

Translation

Karma selbst ist das entscheidende Maß für das Hervorbringen von Glück und Leid; es wirkt mit unfehlbarer Genauigkeit bei den Menschen, ob sie wachen oder sogar schlafen.

Word by Word

• pramāṇam: a measure/authority
• pramāṇam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pramāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन

• karma-bhūtānām: of those that have become karma (karmic factors)
• karma-bhūtānām: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: karma (प्रातिपदिक) + bhūta (भू धातु, क्त-प्रत्यय; कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (समूहवाचक), षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; ‘कर्मभूत’ = कर्मरूप/कर्मस्वरूप

• sukha-duḥkha-upapādane: in producing pleasure and pain
• sukha-duḥkha-upapādane: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sukha (प्रातिपदिक) + duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक) + upapādana (उप-√pad/√pād?; उपपादयति—कृदन्त/भावप्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास—‘सुखदुःखयोः उपपादने’ (in the production/bringing about of pleasure and pain)

• sāvadhānatayā: with attentiveness
• sāvadhānatayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sa- (उपसर्गसदृश) + avadhāna (प्रातिपदिक) + -tā (ताप्रत्यय) → sāvadhānatā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; भाववाचक—‘सावधानता’

• yat: which/that
• yat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक सर्वनाम

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha/Coordination (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक निपात (conjunction)

• jāgratām: of those who are awake
• jāgratām: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: √jāgṛ (जागृ धातु) + śatṛ (शतृ; वर्तमान कृदन्त) → jāgrat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त—‘जाग्रत्’ = waking (persons)

• svapatām: of those who sleep
• svapatām: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: √svap (स्वप् धातु) + śatṛ (शतृ; वर्तमान कृदन्त) → svapat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त—‘स्वपत्’ = sleeping (persons)

• api: even/also
• api: Sambandha/Emphasis (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि-कारार्थक निपात (also/even)

Speaker

Unspecified (deduced: Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa narrating within a Māhātmya discourse)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic balance scale labeled ‘karma’ weighs two bowls marked sukha and duḥkha; below, two scenes: a person awake in action and the same person asleep, with the scale still operating above both.

Characters & Entities

• Karma

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Karma is the governing principle behind joy and grief, functioning precisely regardless of one’s conscious state.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The instruction appears within the Śrīhāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya (Nāgarakhaṇḍa, Tīrthamāhātmya).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual; it is a doctrinal clarification about karmic causation.