Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 89

Devanagari script

यत्राऽस्तमितशायी च यलब्धकृतभोजनः । भ्रमामि मेदिनीपृष्ठे त्यक्त्वा संसारबन्धनम्

Transliteration

yatrā'stamitaśāyī ca yalabdhakṛtabhojanaḥ | bhramāmi medinīpṛṣṭhe tyaktvā saṃsārabandhanam

Translation

Où que je sois, je m’étends lorsque le soleil s’est couché, et je ne mange que ce que j’obtiens par hasard. Ainsi j’erre sur la face de la terre, ayant rejeté les liens de l’existence mondaine.

Word by Word

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (स्थानवाचक-अव्यय/adverb of place)

• astamita-śāyī: one who lies down at sunset
• astamita-śāyī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: astamita (कृदन्त; √as + asta- ‘to set’) + śāyin (कृदन्त; √śī (शीङ्) + णिनि/इन्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण; कर्मधारय-समास (अस्तमितः शायी = ‘one who lies at sunset/after sunset’)

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

• ya-labdha-kṛta-bhojanaḥ: one who eats what he gets
• ya-labdha-kṛta-bhojanaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ya (यद्-प्रातिपदिक) + labdha (कृदन्त; √labh (लभ्) क्त) + kṛta (कृदन्त; √kṛ (कृञ्) क्त) + bhojana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण; तत्पुरुष-समास (येन लब्धं तेन कृतं भोजनम्—‘eating what is obtained’)

• bhramāmi: I wander
• bhramāmi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhram (भ्रम्)
• Form: लट् (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• medinī-pṛṣṭhe: on the surface of the earth
• medinī-pṛṣṭhe: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: medinī (प्रातिपदिक) + pṛṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (मेदिन्याः पृष्ठम्)

• tyaktvā: having abandoned
• tyaktvā: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √tyaj (त्यज्)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (absolutive/gerund)

• saṃsāra-bandhanam: the bondage of worldly existence
• saṃsāra-bandhanam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃsāra (प्रातिपदिक) + bandhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (संसारस्य बन्धनम्)

Speaker

Unnamed narrator (first-person voice within the Adhyāya); framed later by Sūta’s narration in this section

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: brāhmaṇas (viprāḥ/dvijas)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A lone renunciant-wanderer on the earth’s surface at dusk, laying down after sunset with a small begging bowl, leaving behind symbols of household life (rope/lock/ledger) to signify severed bonds.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Contentment with whatever comes (yalabdha) and simple living are presented as means to loosen saṃsāra’s bondage.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No particular site is named in this line; it depicts the pilgrim-renunciant mode that underlies tīrtha-māhātmya narratives.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual; it describes ascetic observance—eating what is obtained and resting after sunset.