Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 28

Devanagari script

जन्मांतरार्जितं किंचिदस्याः सुकृतमस्ति वा । तत्कथं कुष्ठरोगण कृमिभिः परिभूयते

Transliteration

janmāṃtarārjitaṃ kiṃcidasyāḥ sukṛtamasti vā | tatkathaṃ kuṣṭharogaṇa kṛmibhiḥ paribhūyate

Translation

Does she have any merit at all, however slight, earned in former births? If so, how is she tormented by leprosy and overwhelmed by worms?

Word by Word

• janma-antara-ārjitam: earned in a previous birth
• janma-antara-ārjitam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: janman (प्रातिपदिक) + antara (प्रातिपदिक) + √arj (अर्ज् धातु) → ārjita (कृदन्त/भूतकर्मणि)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः ‘जन्मान्तरे अर्जितम्’ (PPP)

• kiṃcit: something/any
• kiṃcit: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (किम् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; अनिश्चितार्थक (indefinite)

• asyāḥ: of her
• asyāḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (इदम् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• su-kṛtam: merit/good deed
• su-kṛtam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: su (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + √kṛ (कृ धातु) → sukṛta (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त-निष्पन्न)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; उपपद-तत्पुरुष/कर्मधारय-भावः ‘सु कृतम्’ = पुण्यम्

• asti: is/exists
• asti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √as (अस् धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Alternative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-अव्यय

• tat: then/that
• tat: Sambandha (Anaphoric/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• katham: how
• katham: Sambandha (Question/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय

• kuṣṭha-rogeṇa: by leprosy (disease)
• kuṣṭha-rogeṇa: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kuṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक) + roga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः ‘कुष्ठः एव रोगः’ (कर्मधारय-भावः)

• kṛmibhiḥ: by worms
• kṛmibhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛmi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन

• paribhūyate: is afflicted/overpowered
• paribhūyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari-√bhū (परि + भू धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive sense)

Speaker

Unspecified narrator/speaker addressing Śiva’s messengers (context: a questioning interlocutor)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A poignant image of an afflicted woman with leprosy and worms (symbolic, not sensational), while the speaker questions how such torment aligns with any past merit; background shows a compassionate figure offering water/cloth, hinting at dharma amid suffering.

Characters & Entities

• Karma
• Rebirth
• Śivadūta (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It raises the classic purāṇic question of karma: how prior merit and present suffering can coexist, preparing for the revelation of hidden virtue and divine mercy.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None is mentioned in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual is prescribed; the verse discusses karma (sukṛta) and its apparent contradiction with suffering.