Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 81

Devanagari script

ततः कृच्छ्रात्प्रतिज्ञातं मयाश्रमनिषेवणम् । वानप्रस्थोद्भवं वा स्यात्ततोऽहं तत्र संस्थितः

Transliteration

tataḥ kṛcchrātpratijñātaṃ mayāśramaniṣevaṇam | vānaprasthodbhavaṃ vā syāttato'haṃ tatra saṃsthitaḥ

Translation

Alors, non sans peine, je fis vœu d’embrasser la discipline d’un āśrama (une étape réglée de la vie). Ce pouvait être la voie du vānprastha, le résident de la forêt; ainsi je m’y tins, établi dans cette observance.

Word by Word

• ततः: then/from that
• ततः: Modifier (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• कृच्छ्रात्: from hardship/with difficulty
• कृच्छ्रात्: Apadana/Hetu (Ablative/Cause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृच्छ्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन; हेतौ/अपादाने—‘from hardship/with difficulty’

• प्रतिज्ञातम्: was promised/undertaken
• प्रतिज्ञातम्: Karma/Bhava (Object/Impersonal predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + ज्ञा (धातु) → प्रतिज्ञात (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• मया: by me
• मया: Kartr (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन

• आश्रमनिषेवणम्: service/observance of the āśrama (life-stage)
• आश्रमनिषेवणम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आश्रम + निषेवण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (determinative: ‘service/attendance of an āśrama’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• वानप्रस्थोद्भवम्: arising from the vānaprastha stage
• वानप्रस्थोद्भवम्: Modifier (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वानप्रस्थ + उद्भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (determinative: ‘arising from vānaprastha’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘आश्रमनिषेवणम्’ इत्यस्य विशेषण

• वा: or
• वा: Modifier (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक निपात (disjunctive particle)

• स्यात्: may be/would be
• स्यात्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

• ततः: then
• ततः: Modifier (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

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

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• संस्थितः: stood/was stationed
• संस्थितः: Karta (Predicate participle/कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + स्था (धातु) → संस्थित (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past active participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

Speaker

Male narrator within the episode (first-person account)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A renunciant-like figure takes a hard vow to live by āśrama discipline, possibly as a vānaprastha, and remains stationed in that observance within a forest hermitage.

Characters & Entities

• Āśrama
• Vānaprastha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma is embodied through deliberate vows and sustained āśrama-discipline, even when difficult.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader adhyāya context is the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra tīrthamāhātmya, within which this vow is narrated.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A vow to follow āśrama-niṣevaṇa (especially vānaprastha-style discipline) is mentioned, but without procedural details.