Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 31

Devanagari script

न देवा मानुषीं भार्यां कुर्वन्ति च कथंचन । श्लेष्ममूत्रपुरीषाणां संस्थानं या विगर्हिता

Transliteration

na devā mānuṣīṃ bhāryāṃ kurvanti ca kathaṃcana | śleṣmamūtrapurīṣāṇāṃ saṃsthānaṃ yā vigarhitā

Translation

Les dieux ne prennent en aucune manière une femme humaine pour épouse, elle dont la constitution du corps est blâmée comme faite de flegme, d’urine et d’excréments.

Word by Word

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय (negation particle)

• devāḥ: the gods
• devāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• mānuṣīm: human
• mānuṣīm: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mānuṣī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण—‘भार्याम्’ इत्यस्य

• bhāryām: wife
• bhāryām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāryā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• kurvanti: make/take (as)
• kurvanti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

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

• kathaṃcana: in any way at all
• kathaṃcana: Prakara (Manner/प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kathaṃcana (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध/प्रकारवाचक अव्यय (adverb: ‘in any way/at all’)

• śleṣma: phlegm
• śleṣma: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śleṣman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषसमासे पूर्वपद (stem form)

• mūtra: urine
• mūtra: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mūtra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषसमासे पूर्वपद (stem form)

• purīṣāṇām: of feces
• purīṣāṇām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: purīṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; ‘śleṣma-mūtra-purīṣāṇām’ इत्यस्य उत्तरपद-षष्ठी

• saṃsthānam: constitution/form/structure
• saṃsthānam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃsthāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• yā: who/which
• yā: Karta (Relative subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम; ‘भार्या’ इत्यस्य निर्देशे

• vigarhitā: is censured
• vigarhitā: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi-√garh (धातु) → vigarhita (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त—‘censured/condemned’

Speaker

Unknown (didactic voice within the narrative)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A grave instruction scene: the teacher speaks uncompromisingly about bodily impurity; the king lowers his gaze, chastened; the background may show symbolic elements—lotus (purity) contrasted with mundane waste—to underscore the teaching.

Characters & Entities

• devāḥ (gods)
• mānuṣī (human woman)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It stresses dispassion (vairāgya) by highlighting the perishable, impure body, redirecting attention toward dharma and the sacred.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the line is moral-philosophical within a Tīrthamāhātmya narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual prescription is present.