Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 44

Devanagari script

समाध्यंतं समासाद्य तापसीर्वीक्ष्य साऽपि च । दमयंती नमश्चक्रे ताः सर्वा विधिपूर्वकम्

Transliteration

samādhyaṃtaṃ samāsādya tāpasīrvīkṣya sā'pi ca | damayaṃtī namaścakre tāḥ sarvā vidhipūrvakam

Translation

Coming out of her meditation and seeing the ascetic women before her, Damayantī too offered reverent salutations to them all, duly and according to proper rite.

Word by Word

• samādhyantam: one who was in samādhi/meditation
• samādhyantam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: samādhyant (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √dhyai/ध्या + सम्, वर्तमानकृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन; वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ/शानच्-समकक्ष प्रयोग) — ‘ध्यान/समाधि में स्थित’

• samāsādya: having approached
• samāsādya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sam-ā-√sad (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund) — ‘समासाद्य’ = having approached

• tāpasīḥ: the female ascetics
• tāpasīḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāpasī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• vīkṣya: having seen
• vīkṣya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: √īkṣ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय — ‘वīkṣya’ = having seen

• sā: she
• sā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (सर्वनाम)

• api: also
• api: Sambandha/Emphasis (निपातार्थ)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle) — ‘also/even’

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunctive/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• damayantī: Damayantī
• damayantī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: damayantī (प्रातिपदिक; नाम)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (विशेष-नाम)

• namaḥ: salutation
• namaḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अव्ययीभाववत् प्रयोग ‘नमः’ = salutation

• cakre: made/did
• cakre: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परस्मैपद-परिप्रयोग/परिपूर्णभूत), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद-रूप ‘चक्रे’

• tāḥ: them
• tāḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• sarvāḥ: all
• sarvāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; ‘ताः’ इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषण

• vidhi-pūrvakam: according to proper procedure
• vidhi-pūrvakam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vidhi + pūrvaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; अव्ययभावे नपुंसक एकवचन-रूपेण क्रियाविशेषण — ‘विधिना पूर्वं/विधिपूर्वकं’

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narrator; speaker not explicit in this excerpt)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Damayantī rises from meditation; a circle of tapasvinīs stands before her. She bows with folded hands in a quiet hermitage atmosphere.

Characters & Entities

• Damayantī
• tāpasyaḥ (female ascetics)
• samādhi

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even the honored and affluent must practice humility—honoring ascetics with proper salutations is a core Purāṇic expression of dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The act occurs in the Adhyāya 111 sacred setting near water and bank; the verse itself does not specify the tīrtha’s name.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Offering namaskāra to sādhus/tāpasīs in a vidhi-pūrvaka (proper, rule-based) manner is explicitly mentioned.