Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

कफरोगबहुश्वासश्लथन्नाडीबहुव्यथाम् । विध्वस्तकेशावयवामपश्यं मरणोन्मुखीम्

Transliteration

kapharogabahuśvāsaślathannāḍībahuvyathām | vidhvastakeśāvayavāmapaśyaṃ maraṇonmukhīm

Translation

Je la vis tourmentée par une maladie flegmatique et une respiration laborieuse, les nerfs relâchés et souffrant de mille maux ; ses cheveux et ses membres ruinés, elle faisait face à la mort.

Word by Word

• kapha-roga-bahu-śvāsa-ślathat-nāḍī-bahu-vyathām: having much pain, with phlegm-disease, heavy breathing, and slackened channels (nāḍīs)
• kapha-roga-bahu-śvāsa-ślathat-nāḍī-bahu-vyathām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kapha (प्रातिपदिक) + roga (प्रातिपदिक) + bahu (प्रातिपदिक) + śvāsa (प्रातिपदिक) + ślathat (कृदन्त; वर्तमानकृदन्त/शतृ; √ślath (धातु)) + nāḍī (प्रातिपदिक) + bahu (प्रातिपदिक) + vyathā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (बहुपद); विशेष्यः (स्त्री)

• vidhvasta-keśa-avayavām: with ruined hair and limbs
• vidhvasta-keśa-avayavām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vidhvasta (कृदन्त; √dhvaṃs (धातु) वि-उपसर्ग) + keśa (प्रातिपदिक) + avayava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः; विशेष्यः (स्त्री)

• apaśyam: I saw
• apaśyam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dṛś (धातु) (पश्य)
• Form: लङ्-लकार (Imperfect/Past), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• maraṇa-unmukhīm: facing death, on the verge of dying
• maraṇa-unmukhīm: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: maraṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + unmukhī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः; विशेष्यः (स्त्री)

Speaker

Narrator (first-person voice in the passage; exact attribution not in excerpt)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A near-death figure: hair disheveled, limbs failing, breath labored; the witness stands in silent compassion, the scene quieting into inevitability.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The verse confronts mortality directly, encouraging urgency in dharma and the cultivation of compassion toward the suffering.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is mentioned in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse.