Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 6

Devanagari script

तथैव वज्रकणकं क्षारकर्दमपातनम् । रक्षोगणाशनं चापि शूलप्रोतं वितोदनम्

Transliteration

tathaiva vajrakaṇakaṃ kṣārakardamapātanam | rakṣogaṇāśanaṃ cāpi śūlaprotaṃ vitodanam

Translation

De même (il est d’autres enfers) : Vajrakaṇaka ; Kṣārakardamapātana (où l’on est précipité dans une boue alcaline) ; Rakṣogaṇāśana (où des troupes de rākṣasas dévorent le pécheur) ; et Śūlaprota et Vitodana (où l’on est empalé sur des lances et transpercé sans cesse).

Word by Word

• तथा: thus
• तथा: Sambandha (Discourse connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) — adverb ‘thus’

• एव: indeed
• एव: Sambandha (Emphasis/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात) — particle of emphasis ‘indeed/just’

• वज्रकणकम्: the ‘vajra-gold’ (a named hell/torture)
• वज्रकणकम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वज्र + कणक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन — neuter, nominative/accusative singular

• क्षारकर्दमपातनम्: casting into alkaline mud
• क्षारकर्दमपातनम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षार + कर्दम + पातन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन — neuter, nominative/accusative singular; (क्षारकर्दमे पातनम्)

• रक्षोगणाशनम्: devouring by hosts of demons
• रक्षोगणाशनम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रक्षोगण + आशन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन — neuter, nominative/accusative singular; (रक्षोगणानाम् आशनम्)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक) — conjunction ‘and’

• अपि: also
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात) — particle ‘also/even’

• शूलप्रोतम्: pierced on a spear
• शूलप्रोतम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शूल + प्रोत (√प्रु/प्रो ‘to string, pierce’ क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन — past participle (क्त), neuter nom/acc sg; (शूले प्रोतम्)

• वितोदनम्: piercing/tormenting
• वितोदनम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वि + तोदन (√तुद् ‘to strike’ ल्युट्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन — action noun (ल्युट्), neuter nom/acc sg

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Setu-khaṇḍa narrative style: Skanda teaching a sage/interlocutor)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya ṛṣis (addressed as ‘viprāḥ’)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A grim Yama-loka tableau: sinners driven toward named hells—one of alkaline mire, one devoured by rākṣasas, one impaled on śūlas—under the gaze of Yama’s order.

Characters & Entities

• Rākṣasa-gaṇa
• Śūla (spear/trident)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Actions (karma) ripen into specific consequences; the Purāṇa warns against adharma by vividly mapping its painful results.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader context is Setu (Setubandha/Rāmeśvaram–Dhanuṣkoṭi) whose tīrtha-power is praised as a purifier against such fates.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct rite in this verse; it functions as part of the naraka-list that supports the later prescription of tīrtha-snānā (holy bathing) at Setu/Dhanuṣkoṭi.