Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

वेदबाह्य दुराचारास्त्याज्यास्ते ह्यत्र कर्मणि । वेदवादरता यूयं सर्वे विष्णुपुरोगमाः

Transliteration

vedabāhya durācārāstyājyāste hyatra karmaṇi | vedavādaratā yūyaṃ sarve viṣṇupurogamāḥ

Translation

“Those who stand outside the Veda and behave wickedly should be excluded from this rite. You all are devoted to Vedic doctrine—followers with Viṣṇu in the lead.”

Word by Word

• vedabāhyāḥ: outside the Veda, un-Vedic
• vedabāhyāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: veda + bāhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (vedāt bāhyāḥ / vedasya bāhyāḥ)

• durācārāḥ: evil-doers, of bad conduct
• durācārāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dur + ācāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (duṣṭaḥ ācāraḥ)

• tyājyāḥ: to be abandoned
• tyājyāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tyajya (√tyaj धातु + यत्/ण्यत्-भाव)
• Form: कृदन्त-विशेषण (gerundive), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘to be abandoned’

• te: they
• te: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• atra: here
• atra: Adhikaraṇa (Adverbial location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atra (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of place)

• karmaṇi: in the rite/action
• karmaṇi: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: karman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• vedavādaratāḥ: devoted to Vedic doctrine
• vedavādaratāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: veda + vāda + rata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (veda-vāde ratāḥ)

• yūyam: you (all)
• yūyam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuṣmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-बहुवचनार्थक सर्वनाम, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन

• sarve: all
• sarve: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषण

• viṣṇupurogamāḥ: having Viṣṇu as leader
• viṣṇupurogamāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: viṣṇu + puro-gama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहि (viṣṇuḥ purogamaḥ yeṣām—‘having Viṣṇu as leader/going in front’)

Speaker

Dakṣa

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dakṣa-yajña setting (Kedāra narrative)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Dakṣa addresses the priests, indicating that vedabāhya and wicked actors must be removed; a group of Veda-chanting brāhmaṇas stands in orderly rows, while a sidelined cluster is shown being turned away; Viṣṇu is invoked as the leading exemplar in the rhetoric.

Characters & Entities

• Dakṣa
• Viṣṇu
• Veda

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ritual purity is invoked as an external standard, but the Purāṇic subtext warns that orthodoxy without humility becomes a tool of exclusion.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kedārakhaṇḍa setting remains in the background; the verse centers on yajña eligibility rather than tīrtha praise.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Exclusion (tyāga) of those deemed ‘veda-bāhya’ from participation in the ongoing ritual.