Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 58

Devanagari script

तेजोहानिः परा तेऽद्य जाता ब्रह्मवधाद्विभो । तस्माद्धेनुं परित्यज्य गम्यतां निजमंदिरम्

Transliteration

tejohāniḥ parā te'dya jātā brahmavadhādvibho | tasmāddhenuṃ parityajya gamyatāṃ nijamaṃdiram

Translation

Sie sprachen: „O Mächtiger, heute ist dir durch die Sünde des Brahmanenmordes ein großer Verlust an Glanz widerfahren. Darum gib die Kuh auf und kehre in deinen Palast zurück.“

Word by Word

• tejohāniḥ: loss of splendor
• tejohāniḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tejas (प्रातिपदिक) + hāni (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (तेजसः हानिः)

• parā: great, extreme
• parā: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (tejohāni-विशेषण)

• te: of you, your
• te: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (युष्मद्-सर्वनाम)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• adya: today, now
• adya: Sambandha (Temporal/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (today/now)

• jātā: has arisen
• jātā: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jan (जन् धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; ‘अभवत्/जाता’ इत्यर्थे (has arisen)

• brahmavadhāt: from the killing of a Brahmin
• brahmavadhāt: Hetu/Apadana (Cause/Source/हेतु-अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक) + vadha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (ब्रह्मणः वधः)

• vibho: O mighty one
• vibho: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vibhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, संबोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• tasmāt: therefore
• tasmāt: Hetu/Apadana (Therefore/from that/हेतु-अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• dhenum: the cow
• dhenum: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhenu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• parityajya: having abandoned
• parityajya: Sambandha (Gerundial link/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari + tyaj (त्यज् धातु) + ktvā (क्त्वा)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund), पूर्वकाल (having abandoned)

• gamyatām: go (please depart)
• gamyatām: Kriya (Injunctive/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (गम् धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive imperative: ‘let it be gone’ = please go)

• nija-mandiram: your own palace/home
• nija-mandiram: Gati/Karma (Goal as object/गति-कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nija (प्रातिपदिक) + mandira (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास (निजं मन्दिरम्)

Speaker

Ministers (Mantrin) speaking to the king (Haihaya ruler, implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Ministers solemnly address a shaken king; a symbolic dimming of royal aura—his crown seems heavy, his face shadowed—while the contested cow (Kāmadhenu) stands as the moral pivot, serene amid violence.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmavadhā (brahmin-slaying)
• Dhenu (Kāmadhenu)
• King (Haihaya ruler, implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Brahmin-slaying destroys tejas (spiritual-royal radiance); dharma is the true source of power, and violating it brings immediate decline.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not named here; the verse conveys a dharma principle within the chapter’s tīrtha-māhātmya setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is prescribed; the counsel is to desist and withdraw from further wrongdoing.