Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

अर्थानामर्जने दुःखमर्जितानां च रक्षणे । नाशे दुःखं व्यये दुःखं धिगर्थो दुःखभाजनम्

Transliteration

arthānāmarjane duḥkhamarjitānāṃ ca rakṣaṇe | nāśe duḥkhaṃ vyaye duḥkhaṃ dhigartho duḥkhabhājanam

Translation

Dans l’acquisition des richesses il y a souffrance; dans la garde de ce qui est acquis il y a souffrance; dans la perte il y a souffrance; dans la dépense il y a souffrance. Honte à la richesse: elle est un vase de chagrin.

Word by Word

• arthānām: of wealth/things
• arthānām: Shashthi-sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: artha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन

• arjane: in acquisition
• arjane: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arjana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरण—‘in acquiring’

• duḥkham: sorrow
• duḥkham: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• arjitānām: of what is acquired
• arjitānām: Shashthi-sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arjita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √arj धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त) ‘acquired’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुल्लिङ्ग (सन्दर्भे ‘arthāḥ’), षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन

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

• rakṣaṇe: in protection
• rakṣaṇe: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rakṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरण—‘in protecting’

• nāśe: in loss
• nāśe: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरण—‘in loss/destruction’

• duḥkham: sorrow
• duḥkham: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• vyaye: in expenditure
• vyaye: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vyaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरण—‘in spending/expense’

• duḥkham: sorrow
• duḥkham: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• dhik: fie upon
• dhik: Sambodhana/Exclamation (उद्गार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: dhik (अव्यय)
• Form: निन्दार्थक अव्यय (interjection: ‘fie!’)

• arthaḥ: wealth
• arthaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: artha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• duḥkha-bhājanam: a receptacle of sorrow
• duḥkha-bhājanam: Predicate (विशेष्य-विशेषणभाव/समासार्थ)
• Type: Noun
• Root: duḥkha + bhājana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष): ‘duḥkhasya bhājanam’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

Speaker

An unnamed renunciate/narrator within the Tīrthamāhātmya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Four vignettes around a central pile of coins: a man toiling to earn, anxiously guarding, grieving loss, and reluctantly spending—each with visible sorrow; a pilgrim in the corner gives alms peacefully.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Wealth generates anxiety in every phase—gain, protection, loss, and use—so lasting peace requires detachment.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse is a universal dharma teaching within a Tīrthamāhātmya chapter; it does not specify a site.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the implied prescription is vairāgya and simplifying one’s life for spiritual pursuit.