Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 51

Devanagari script

एवं हत्वा स विप्रेन्द्रं जमदग्निं महीपतिः । तां धेनुं कालयामास यत्र माहिष्मती पुरी

Transliteration

evaṃ hatvā sa viprendraṃ jamadagniṃ mahīpatiḥ | tāṃ dhenuṃ kālayāmāsa yatra māhiṣmatī purī

Translation

Nachdem der König Jamadagni, den vornehmsten der Brahmanen, getötet hatte, trieb er die Kuh zu dem Ort, wo die Stadt Māhiṣmatī steht.

Word by Word

• एवम्: thus
• एवम्: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (indeclinable adverb of manner: “thus”)

• हत्वा: having killed
• हत्वा: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (Prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund/absolutive); “having killed”

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन (singular)

• विप्रेन्द्रम्: the chief of Brahmins
• विप्रेन्द्रम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र + इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (विप्राणाम् इन्द्रः)

• जमदग्निम्: Jamadagni
• जमदग्निम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जमदग्नि (प्रातिपदिक; नाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया, एकवचन

• महीपतिः: the king
• महीपतिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही + पति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (मही-या पतिः)

• ताम्: that (her)
• ताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया, एकवचन

• धेनुम्: cow
• धेनुम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धेनु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया, एकवचन

• कालयामास: drove/urged (her)
• कालयामास: Kriyā (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कल्/काल् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परस्मैपद; periphrastic perfect); प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; causative sense “to drive/urge” (कालयति)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikaraṇa (Locative relation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक सम्बन्धबोधक (relative adverb: where)

• माहिष्मती: Māhiṣmatī
• माहिष्मती: Viśeṣya (Apposition to purī)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माहिष्मती (प्रातिपदिक; नगरनाम)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन

• पुरी: city
• पुरी: Adhikaraṇa (Place; implied “was”)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

Sūta (continued narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Māhiṣmatī (Narmadā-tīra)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A king, having slain the sage Jamadagni, drives away the divine cow toward Māhiṣmatī; the hermitage lies behind, stained by the crime, while the road bends toward the Narmadā-side city.

Characters & Entities

• Jamadagni
• mahīpati (king)
• dhenu
• Māhiṣmatī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Adharma may appear to ‘succeed’ in the moment (seizure and escape), but purāṇic narrative frames such acts as seeds of inevitable karmic consequence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Māhiṣmatī is explicitly named as the destination city; within Skanda Purana’s travel-sacred frame, such place-names anchor the sacred geography of the narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it provides a geographic/narrative transition by naming Māhiṣmatī.