Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

याः कुर्वंति स्त्रियो लोके जायापत्योश्च विप्रियम् । तासां कौमारवैधव्यमेकविंशतिजन्मसु

Transliteration

yāḥ kurvaṃti striyo loke jāyāpatyośca vipriyam | tāsāṃ kaumāravaidhavyamekaviṃśatijanmasu

Translation

Les femmes qui, en ce monde, suscitent inimitié et discorde entre l’épouse et l’époux : pour elles, il y a veuvage dès la virginité durant vingt et une naissances.

Word by Word

• yāḥ: who (women)
• yāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन; यत्-प्रत्यय (relative pronoun)

• kurvanti: do/make
• kurvanti: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• striyaḥ: women
• striyaḥ: Karta (Subject apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: strī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन

• loke: in the world
• loke: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी/अधिकरण (7th case), एकवचन

• jāyā-patyoḥ: of wife and husband
• jāyā-patyoḥ: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jāyā (प्रातिपदिक) + pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी/सम्बन्ध (6th case), द्विवचन; द्वन्द्वः (जायाश्च पत्योश्च)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक (conjunction)

• vipriyam: what is displeasing / harm
• vipriyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipriya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/कर्म (2nd case), एकवचन

• tāsām: of them
• tāsām: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी/सम्बन्ध (6th case), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• kaumāra-vaidhavyam: widowhood from maidenhood (early widowhood)
• kaumāra-vaidhavyam: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kaumāra (प्रातिपदिक) + vaidhavya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (कौमारे वैधव्यम्/कौमार-वैधव्यम्)

• eka-viṃśati-janmasu: in twenty-one births
• eka-viṃśati-janmasu: Adhikarana (Locus/Extent/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: eka (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + viṃśati (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + janman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी/अधिकरण (7th case), बहुवचन; द्विगु-समासः (एकविंशतिः जन्मानि)

Speaker

Unclear from excerpt (didactic/narrative voice within Brahmottarakhaṇḍa)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An allegorical scene: women sowing seeds of quarrel between a couple, while a stern cosmic ledger records ‘21 births’; a maiden in white stands as a symbol of ‘kāumara-vaidhavya’.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Interfering destructively in marital bonds is treated as a grave adharma with long-lasting karmic consequences.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is glorified in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it states a karmic principle (karma-phala).