Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 44

Devanagari script

अन्त्यजः स परिज्ञेयो मातृविक्रयकारकः । तस्मान्नाहं प्रदास्यामि नन्दिनीं तां महीपते

Transliteration

antyajaḥ sa parijñeyo mātṛvikrayakārakaḥ | tasmānnāhaṃ pradāsyāmi nandinīṃ tāṃ mahīpate

Translation

Un tel homme doit être tenu pour un paria, comme celui qui vend sa propre mère. C’est pourquoi, ô roi, je ne donnerai pas cette Nandinī.

Word by Word

• अन्त्यजः: an outcaste; one born in the lowest (class)
• अन्त्यजः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्त्य + ज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• परिज्ञेयः: is to be known/recognized
• परिज्ञेयः: Kriya (Predicative/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √ज्ञा (धातु) + ण्यत्/य (कृदन्त; ज्ञेय) उपसर्ग-परि
• Form: भविष्यत्/विधेयार्थक कृदन्त (gerundive/‘to be known’), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विधेय-विशेषण

• मातृविक्रयकारकः: one who causes (or commits) the sale of his mother
• मातृविक्रयकारकः: Karta (Appositional predicate/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मातृ + विक्रय + कारक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; ‘मातृ-विक्रयस्य कारकः’ (agent/doer)

• तस्मात्: therefore
• तस्मात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तस्मात् इति अव्ययीभाववत् प्रयोगः; हेत्वर्थे (ablative used adverbially: ‘therefore/from that reason’)

• न: not
• न: Pratishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निषेध/Negation particle)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• प्रदास्यामि: I will give
• प्रदास्यामि: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √दा (धातु) उपसर्ग-प्र + दा
• Form: लृट् (Simple Future), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• नन्दिनीम्: Nandinī
• नन्दिनीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नन्दिनी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• ताम्: that (her)
• ताम्: Karma (Apposition/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; निर्देशक

• महीपते: O lord of the earth (king)
• महीपते: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही + पति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

Speaker

Vasiṣṭha (addressing the king)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Nandinī (cow and/or associated tīrtha name in the episode)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahīpati (king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A brāhmaṇa refuses the king’s request to give Nandinī, declaring cow-sale akin to mother-sale and branding the seller as antyaja; the cow stands central, calm yet symbolically powerful.

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• Nandinī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

To violate reverence for the ‘motherly’ (the cow as dharma’s support) is a severe moral fall; righteousness refuses unethical demands even from rulers.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The immediate verse focuses on ethical teaching within the Tīrthamāhātmya framework; no single tīrtha is explicitly named in this line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual is stated; the verse is a dharmic refusal, emphasizing non-transfer of the sacred cow.