Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

नो चेद्धत्वाप्रहारेण यष्ट्या वज्रोपमेन च । प्रापयिष्यस्यसंदिग्धं धर्मराजनिवेशनम्

Transliteration

no ceddhatvāprahāreṇa yaṣṭyā vajropamena ca | prāpayiṣyasyasaṃdigdhaṃ dharmarājaniveśanam

Translation

Sinon—en t’abattant d’un bâton dont le coup est semblable à la foudre—je t’enverrai, sans aucun doute, à la demeure de Dharmarāja (Yama).

Word by Word

• naḥ: not
• naḥ: Sambandha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय; ‘न’ (before vowel often ‘नो’)

• cet: if
• cet: Sambandha (Condition)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: cet (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्तबोधक अव्यय (conditional particle)

• hatvā: having struck
• hatvā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √han (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund); ‘हत्वा’ = having struck/killed

• prahāreṇa: with a blow
• prahāreṇa: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prahāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया एकवचनम् (Instr. sg.)

• yaṣṭyā: with a staff
• yaṣṭyā: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yaṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; तृतीया एकवचनम् (Instr. sg.)

• vajra-upamena: like a thunderbolt
• vajra-upamena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vajra (प्रातिपदिक) + upama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; तृतीया एकवचनम् (Instr. sg.); ‘वज्रवत् उपमः’ = like a thunderbolt

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• prāpayiṣyasi: you will make (them) reach
• prāpayiṣyasi: Kriyā (Main action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra√āp (धातु) (णिच् causative: prāpay-)
• Form: लृट् (भविष्यत्/Future); मध्यमपुरुष एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्; णिच्-प्रयोग (causative) = ‘प्रापयिष्यसि’

• asaṃdigdham: certainly, without doubt
• asaṃdigdham: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Certainty)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: asaṃdigdha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण अव्ययवत् (adverbial accusative); ‘असंदिग्धम्’ = without doubt

• dharmarāja-niveśanam: the abode of Dharmarāja (Yama)
• dharmarāja-niveśanam: Karma (Goal/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharmarāja (प्रातिपदिक) + niveśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचनम् (Acc. sg.); ‘धर्मराजस्य निवेशनम्’

Speaker

Unspecified (contextual speaker within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Lohajaṅgha raises a heavy staff like a thunderbolt, looming over the sages; in the background, a shadowy suggestion of Yama’s abode or a dark gateway symbolizes the threatened destination.

Characters & Entities

• Dharmarāja (Yama)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It stresses accountability under Dharma: wrongful conduct invites inevitable consequence, symbolized by being sent to Dharmarāja’s abode.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse itself is a warning within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya flow, but it does not name a specific tīrtha in the given line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it functions as an admonition about karmic and dharmic consequence.