Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 14

Devanagari script

अपराधं विना तातः क्षत्रियेण हतोमम । एकविंशतिः प्रहाराणां मातुरंगे स्थिता मम

Transliteration

aparādhaṃ vinā tātaḥ kṣatriyeṇa hatomama | ekaviṃśatiḥ prahārāṇāṃ māturaṃge sthitā mama

Translation

„Obwohl ohne jede Schuld, wurde mein Vater von einem Kṣatriya erschlagen; und am Leib meiner Mutter bleiben mir einundzwanzig Hiebe, die mir anzurechnen sind.“

Word by Word

• अपराधम्: offense
• अपराधम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अपराध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया, एकवचन

• विना: without
• विना: Sambandha (Exclusion/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: विना (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपसर्गसदृश-निपात; ‘without’ (सह पञ्चमी/द्वितीया-प्रयोगः)

• तातः: father
• तातः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तात (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन; संबोधनार्थे अपि प्रयुज्यते, अत्र प्रथमा

• क्षत्रियेण: by a kshatriya
• क्षत्रियेण: Karana (Agent in passive/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया, एकवचन

• हतः: was killed
• हतः: Kriya (Predicate participle/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (धातु)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त); पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन; तातः इति विधेय

• मम: my
• मम: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• एक-विंशतिः: twenty-one
• एक-विंशतिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एक (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + विंशति (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन; संख्यावाचक (numeral)

• प्रहाराणाम्: of blows
• प्रहाराणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रहार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी, बहुवचन

• मातुः: of (my) mother
• मातुः: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मातृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी, एकवचन

• अङ्गे: on the body
• अङ्गे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी, एकवचन

• स्थिताः: remain/are present
• स्थिताः: Kriya (Predicate participle/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि/भावे कृदन्त (क्त); स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, बहुवचन; एकविंशतिः (स्त्री) इत्यस्य अर्थानुसारं बहुवचन-प्रयोगः (semantic agreement)

• मम: my
• मम: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

Speaker

Rāma (Jamadagnija/Paraśurāma)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: muni-īśvara-s (sages)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Rāma declares the injustice: his father slain without offense by a kṣatriya; he remembers the twenty-one blows on his mother’s body—his eyes fierce yet wet, sages listening gravely.

Characters & Entities

• Rāma (Paraśurāma)
• Father (Jamadagni implied)
• Mother (Reṇukā implied)
• Kṣatriya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The verse frames a vow as moral accounting: wrongful harm to parents is treated as a grave cause demanding a dharmic response.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This is embedded in the Tīrthamāhātmya narrative context, but the tīrtha itself is not specified in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription here; it supplies the ethical basis for subsequent actions and discussion of tarpaṇa.