Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 200

Devanagari script

तर्जन्यग्रे द्विजश्रेष्ठा अगम्या मां विना परैः । सा सुवर्णमयी भाति यस्यां राज्ये विभीषणः

Transliteration

tarjanyagre dvijaśreṣṭhā agamyā māṃ vinā paraiḥ | sā suvarṇamayī bhāti yasyāṃ rājye vibhīṣaṇaḥ

Translation

Ô le meilleur des deux-fois-nés, au bout de mon index elle est inatteignable pour les autres sans moi. Elle resplendit comme d’or, celle dans le royaume de qui règne Vibhīṣaṇa.

Word by Word

• tarjanyagre: on the tip of the forefinger
• tarjanyagre: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tarjanī-agra (प्रातिपदिक; तर्जनी + अग्र)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमासः (षष्ठी); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरणे (location)

• dvijaśreṣṭhāḥ: O best of the twice-born (brāhmaṇas)
• dvijaśreṣṭhāḥ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija-śreṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक; द्विज + श्रेष्ठ)
• Form: कर्मधारयसमासः; पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, बहुवचन; संबोधनार्थे (vocative sense)

• agamyā: not to be approached
• agamyā: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gam (धाातु) + ya (ण्‍यत्/यत् कृत्प्रत्यय; गम्य) with a- (निषेध)
• Form: ण्‍यत्/यत्-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (गम्य); नकारार्थे ‘अ-’; स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन (agreeing with sā)

• mām: me
• mām: Saha/Apadana (With/Without marker with vinā)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: द्वितीया, एकवचन

• vinā: without
• vinā: Apadana (Separation/अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vinā (अव्यय)
• Form: अपादानार्थक-अव्यय (preposition: without)

• paraiḥ: by others
• paraiḥ: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया, बहुवचन

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

• suvarṇa-mayī: made of gold
• suvarṇa-mayī: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: suvarṇa-maya (प्रातिपदिक; सुवर्ण + मय)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमासः; स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन

• bhāti: shines, appears
• bhāti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhā (धाातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/लट्), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• yasyām: in which
• yasyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; सप्तमी, एकवचन (relative pronoun)

• rājye: in the kingdom
• rājye: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी, एकवचन

• vibhīṣaṇaḥ: Vibhīṣaṇa
• vibhīṣaṇaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vibhīṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration; speaker not explicit in the snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Laṅkā

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: dvija-śreṣṭha (addressed brāhmaṇa)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A narrator gestures with a raised forefinger; above it appears a radiant golden city—Laṅkā—miniaturized yet vivid; Vibhīṣaṇa sits as a righteous king within gleaming ramparts.

Characters & Entities

• Vibhīṣaṇa
• Laṅkā (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Righteous rule (dharma-rājya) transforms a realm into a luminous, auspicious domain—symbolized by the ‘golden’ city.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Laṅkā is referenced in a sanctified, dhārmic frame through Vibhīṣaṇa’s rule, within the broader tīrtha narrative orbit.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is prescribed here; the verse is primarily descriptive (sthala and sovereignty praise).