Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 37

Devanagari script

दशमोऽयं सुविख्यातो नरको नामदुः सहः । तप्तलोहमयैः स्तंभैः समंतात्परिवारितः

Transliteration

daśamo'yaṃ suvikhyāto narako nāmaduḥ sahaḥ | taptalohamayaiḥ staṃbhaiḥ samaṃtātparivāritaḥ

Translation

Ce dixième enfer est renommé sous le nom de Duḥsaha. Il est entouré de toutes parts de piliers de fer rougis au feu.

Word by Word

• daśamaḥ: tenth
• daśamaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: daśama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• ayam: this
• ayam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• su-vikhyātaḥ: well-known
• su-vikhyātaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + vi√khyā (धातु) + kta → vikhyāta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle) विशेषणम्

• narakaḥ: hell (Naraka)
• narakaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• nāma: named/indeed
• nāma: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nāma (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; नाम-निर्देशक/quotative particle

• duḥsahaḥ: hard to endure
• duḥsahaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: duḥ + saha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• tapta-loha-mayaiḥ: made of heated iron
• tapta-loha-mayaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tapta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √tap + kta) + loha (प्रातिपदिक) + maya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन; विशेषणम्

• staṃbhaiḥ: by pillars
• staṃbhaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: staṃbha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• samantāt: on all sides
• samantāt: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: samantāt (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अव्ययीभावार्थे क्रियाविशेषणम् (adverb)

• parivāritaḥ: surrounded
• parivāritaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pari√vṛ (धातु) + kta → parivārita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (PPP)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative style)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: a Brāhmaṇa interlocutor (addressed in nearby verses as vipraśārdūla)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A grim infernal enclosure: a circular or square pit-like hell named Duḥsaha, ringed on all sides by towering pillars of red-hot iron, radiating heat and sparks; condemned souls recoil in terror.

Characters & Entities

• Duḥsaha (Naraka)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Adharma becomes ‘duḥsaha’—unbearable—when its results mature; the text urges restraint and righteous conduct.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is mentioned in this verse; it is a naraka-description passage within the chapter.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse sets up the karmic context elaborated in the following shlokas.