Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

अस्थिचर्मावशेषाङ्गाः कपालोद्धृतपाणयः । अलब्धग्रासमर्द्धार्धं निर्ययुर्नगराद्बहिः

Transliteration

asthicarmāvaśeṣāṅgāḥ kapāloddhṛtapāṇayaḥ | alabdhagrāsamarddhārdhaṃ niryayurnagarādbahiḥ

Translation

Le corps réduit à la peau et aux os, tenant à la main des bols faits de crânes, et n'ayant pas obtenu même une demi-bouchée de nourriture, ils sortirent de la ville.

Word by Word

• asthi: bone
• asthi: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asthi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); “अस्थि” (bone)

• carma: skin
• carma: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: carma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); “चर्म” (skin)

• avaśeṣāṅgāḥ: with only remnants of limbs
• avaśeṣāṅgāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: avaśeṣa + aṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष—“अवशेषाणि अङ्गानि येषाम्” इत्यर्थे (remnant-limbed)

• kapāla: skull-bowl
• kapāla: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kapāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); “कपाल” (skull/bowl)

• uddhṛta: held up
• uddhṛta: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uddhṛta (कृदन्त, ud + √hṛ/हृ हरणे)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); भूतकृदन्त (क्त) “उद्धृत” (raised/held up)

• pāṇayaḥ: hands
• pāṇayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāṇi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; “हस्ताः”

• kapāloddhṛtapāṇayaḥ: with hands holding skull-bowls
• kapāloddhṛtapāṇayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kapāla + uddhṛta + pāṇi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहि—“कपालम् उद्धृतं पाणौ येषाम्/कपालं उद्धृतपाणयः” (whose hands hold up a skull-bowl)

• alabdha: not obtained
• alabdha: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: alabdha (कृदन्त, √labh/लभ प्राप्तौ)
• Form: प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); नञ्-पूर्वक भूतकृदन्त (क्त) “अलब्ध” (not obtained)

• grāsa: a mouthful
• grāsa: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: grāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); “ग्रास” (mouthful of food)

• marddha: half
• marddha: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: marddha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); “अर्ध” इत्यर्थे पाठभेद/रूपभेद (half)

• ardham: half
• ardham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ardha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; “अर्धम्” (half)

• alabdhagrāsamarddhārdham: not obtaining even half a mouthful
• alabdhagrāsamarddhārdham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: alabdha + grāsa + marddha + ardha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास—“अलब्धः ग्रासः (येषाम्), (तस्य) अर्धम्” इत्यर्थे; क्रियाविशेषणवत्—“(even) half a mouthful not obtained”

• niryayuḥ: they went out
• niryayuḥ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: nir + √yā (या प्रापणे/गत्यर्थे)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद; “निर्ययुः” (they went out)

• nagarāt: from the city
• nagarāt: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nagara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन; “नगरात्” (from the city)

• bahiḥ: outside
• bahiḥ: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: bahiḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक अव्यय (adverb: “outside”)

Speaker

Śaṅkara (Śiva) (deduced from 133.38)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Gaunt figures—Lokapālas in a deliberately humbled, ascetic guise—holding skull-bowls, leaving the city after failing to obtain even half a morsel; stark contrast between divine status and destitution.

Characters & Entities

• Lokapāla
• Kapāla (skull-bowl)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pride and wrongdoing can reduce even exalted beings to destitution; suffering becomes a visible sign of karmic consequence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage remains within the Revā-khaṇḍa’s sacred landscape, preparing for later tīrtha-phala statements in the same adhyāya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription here; it narrates the state of hunger and alms-seeking (bhaikṣa) as consequence.