Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 47

Devanagari script

कूटसाक्ष्यरतानां च तथैवानृतवादिनाम् । अत्राश्रयो मया दत्तस्तथान्येषां कुकर्मिणाम्

Transliteration

kūṭasākṣyaratānāṃ ca tathaivānṛtavādinām | atrāśrayo mayā dattastathānyeṣāṃ kukarmiṇām

Translation

Ici, j’ai assigné un lieu de détention à ceux qui se complaisent dans le faux témoignage et à ceux qui mentent sans cesse — ainsi qu’à d’autres artisans du mal.

Word by Word

• kūṭa-sākṣya-ratānām: of those devoted to false testimony
• kūṭa-sākṣya-ratānām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kūṭa (प्रातिपदिक) + sākṣya (प्रातिपदिक) + rata (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (कूटसाक्ष्ये रताः इति)

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

• tathā: likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (adverb: ‘thus/so’)

• eva: indeed
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चय/अवधारणार्थक-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• anṛta-vādinām: of liars / speakers of untruth
• anṛta-vādinām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anṛta (प्रातिपदिक) + vādin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (अनृतं वदन्ति इति)

• atra: here
• atra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atra (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb: ‘here’)

• āśrayaḥ: refuge, shelter
• āśrayaḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āśraya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Karana (Instrument/कर्ता-करणभाव)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन

• dattaḥ: given
• dattaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dā (धाातु) → datta (कृदन्त, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्तः (past passive participle/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि-भावः (‘given’)

• tathā: likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (adverb)

• anyeṣām: of others
• anyeṣām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (सामान्यतः), षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन

• kukarmiṇām: of evil-doers
• kukarmiṇām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ku-karman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; उपसर्ग/उपपद-युक्त प्रातिपदिक (‘evil-doer’)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; first-person ‘mayā’ indicates the narrator assigning outcomes)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: dvija-sattama (addressed Brahmin interlocutor)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A stern cosmic adjudicator assigns a dark enclosure for perjurers and liars; figures with downcast faces are led toward a confined, shadowed space, while the distant glow of a tīrtha suggests the alternative path of purification through dharma.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Truth (satya) sustains dharma; lying and false witness corrode society and therefore yield heavy karmic punishment.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is mentioned in this verse; it is part of the moral-cosmological teaching embedded within the māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual is prescribed; the verse categorizes sins and their assigned suffering.