Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 44

Devanagari script

समाध्यंतं समासाद्य तापसीर्वीक्ष्य साऽपि च । दमयंती नमश्चक्रे ताः सर्वा विधिपूर्वकम्

Transliteration

samādhyaṃtaṃ samāsādya tāpasīrvīkṣya sā'pi ca | damayaṃtī namaścakre tāḥ sarvā vidhipūrvakam

Translation

Sortant de sa méditation et voyant devant elle les femmes ascètes, Damayantī leur rendit à toutes un salut révérencieux, dûment et selon le rite.

Word by Word

• samādhyantam: one who was in samādhi/meditation
• samādhyantam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: samādhyant (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √dhyai/ध्या + सम्, वर्तमानकृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन; वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ/शानच्-समकक्ष प्रयोग) — ‘ध्यान/समाधि में स्थित’

• samāsādya: having approached
• samāsādya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sam-ā-√sad (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund) — ‘समासाद्य’ = having approached

• tāpasīḥ: the female ascetics
• tāpasīḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāpasī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• vīkṣya: having seen
• vīkṣya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: √īkṣ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय — ‘वīkṣya’ = having seen

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

• api: also
• api: Sambandha/Emphasis (निपातार्थ)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle) — ‘also/even’

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunctive/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• damayantī: Damayantī
• damayantī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: damayantī (प्रातिपदिक; नाम)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (विशेष-नाम)

• namaḥ: salutation
• namaḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अव्ययीभाववत् प्रयोग ‘नमः’ = salutation

• cakre: made/did
• cakre: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परस्मैपद-परिप्रयोग/परिपूर्णभूत), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद-रूप ‘चक्रे’

• tāḥ: them
• tāḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• sarvāḥ: all
• sarvāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; ‘ताः’ इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषण

• vidhi-pūrvakam: according to proper procedure
• vidhi-pūrvakam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vidhi + pūrvaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; अव्ययभावे नपुंसक एकवचन-रूपेण क्रियाविशेषण — ‘विधिना पूर्वं/विधिपूर्वकं’

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narrator; speaker not explicit in this excerpt)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Damayantī rises from meditation; a circle of tapasvinīs stands before her. She bows with folded hands in a quiet hermitage atmosphere.

Characters & Entities

• Damayantī
• tāpasyaḥ (female ascetics)
• samādhi

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even the honored and affluent must practice humility—honoring ascetics with proper salutations is a core Purāṇic expression of dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The act occurs in the Adhyāya 111 sacred setting near water and bank; the verse itself does not specify the tīrtha’s name.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Offering namaskāra to sādhus/tāpasīs in a vidhi-pūrvaka (proper, rule-based) manner is explicitly mentioned.