Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

क्षत्त्रधर्मं परित्यज्य पलायनपरो मृतः । तदेनो हि मया दग्धं चिताग्नौ नृपसत्तम

Transliteration

kṣattradharmaṃ parityajya palāyanaparo mṛtaḥ | tadeno hi mayā dagdhaṃ citāgnau nṛpasattama

Translation

Nachdem du das Dharma des Kṣatriya aufgegeben hattest, starbst du mit dem Sinn auf Flucht gerichtet. Doch eben diese Sünde habe ich im Feuer des Scheiterhaufens verbrannt, o Bester der Könige.

Word by Word

• क्षत्त्रधर्मम्: the duty of a kṣatriya
• क्षत्त्रधर्मम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत्त्र + धर्म (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी/सम्बन्ध: ‘kṣattrasya dharmaḥ’), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• परित्यज्य: having abandoned
• परित्यज्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: परि+त्यज् (धातु) → परित्यज्य (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund/absolutive)

• पलायनपरः: intent on fleeing
• पलायनपरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पलायन + पर (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (उपपद: ‘palāyane paraḥ’), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• मृतः: dead
• मृतः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मृ (धातु) → मृत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘dead’

• तत्: that
• तत्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• एनः: sin, guilt
• एनः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एनस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• हि: indeed, for
• हि: None
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (निपात)
• Form: निपात (causal/emphatic particle)

• मया: by me
• मया: Karana (Agent in instrumental/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन; सर्वनाम-रूप

• दग्धम्: burnt
• दग्धम्: Karma/Predicate complement (कर्म/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दह् (धातु) → दग्ध (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मणि ‘burnt’

• चिताग्नौ: in the funeral pyre fire
• चिताग्नौ: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चिता + अग्नि (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी: ‘citāyāḥ agniḥ’), पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• नृपसत्तम: O best of kings
• नृपसत्तम: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप + सत्तम (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (कर्मधारयभाव: ‘श्रेष्ठो नृपः’), पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

The devoted wife (satī) addressing the king

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nṛpasattama (the king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The king’s sin of fleeing duty is named; the heroine declares she burned that sin in the funeral-pyre fire—an image of moral purification through agni.

Characters & Entities

• Kṣattradharma
• Citāgni
• Prabhāsa
• Vastrāpatha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma is duty-bound; abandoning one’s ordained role creates guilt, while intense sacrificial commitment is portrayed as expiatory.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching is embedded in the Vastrāpatha Kṣetra Māhātmya of Prabhāsa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

References the funeral pyre (citāgni) and the satī motif as an expiatory act within the narrative.