Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 5

Devanagari script

देवताराधनं पूजां कर्तुं नैव ददाति सः । न च यज्ञं न होमं च स्वाध्यायं न च पापकृत्

Transliteration

devatārādhanaṃ pūjāṃ kartuṃ naiva dadāti saḥ | na ca yajñaṃ na homaṃ ca svādhyāyaṃ na ca pāpakṛt

Translation

He would not allow the worship and adoration of the deities to be performed; and that sinner engaged in neither sacrifice, nor fire-offering, nor sacred study.

Word by Word

• devatā-rādhanaṃ: worship/propitiation of the deity
• devatā-rādhanaṃ: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devatā (प्रातिपदिक) + rādhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (देवतायाः राधनम्)

• pūjām: ritual worship
• pūjām: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pūjā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• kartum: to do, to perform
• kartum: Purpose (प्रयोजन/तुमर्थ)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (कृ-धातु) + tumun (तुमुन्)
• Form: तुमुनन्त (infinitive), क्रियार्थक-अव्ययप्राय (to do)

• na: not
• na: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध-निपात

• eva: at all, indeed
• eva: Emphasis (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारणार्थक-निपात

• dadāti: gives, allows
• dadāti: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dā (दा-धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• na: not
• na: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध-निपात

• ca: and
• ca: Connector (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-निपात

• yajñam: sacrifice
• yajñam: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yajña (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• na: not
• na: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध-निपात

• homam: fire-offering
• homam: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: homa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Connector (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-निपात

• svādhyāyam: self-study (Vedic recitation)
• svādhyāyam: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svādhyāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• na: not
• na: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध-निपात

• ca: and
• ca: Connector (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-निपात

• pāpakṛt: sin-doer, evildoer
• pāpakṛt: Apposition (समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + kṛt (कृदन्त; √kṛ (कृ) कृत्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कृत्-प्रत्ययान्त (agent noun)

Speaker

Narrator (deduced: a Purāṇic narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A temple courtyard with extinguished lamps and silent altars; priests stand helpless as royal guards bar entry; sacred fires are cold, Vedic recitation absent, creating a palpable spiritual vacuum.

Characters & Entities

• deities (devatā)
• yajña
• homa
• svādhyāya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Obstructing worship and abandoning yajña, homa, and svādhyāya severs the dharmic order and is condemned as sinful governance.

Which specific holy site (Tīrtha) is glorified here?

No particular tīrtha is named in this verse; it frames the moral contrast that tīrtha-sevā and devotion restore.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse references pūjā, yajña, homa, and svādhyāya as normative rites/practices, presented here as being neglected or prohibited.