Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 84

Devanagari script

वेदविक्रयकर्तारो ब्राह्मणाः शौचवर्जिताः

Transliteration

vedavikrayakartāro brāhmaṇāḥ śaucavarjitāḥ

Translation

« Les brāhmaṇas deviendront des vendeurs du Veda, dépourvus de pureté et de la propreté rituelle requise. »

Word by Word

• वेदविक्रयकर्तारः: sellers of the Veda
• वेदविक्रयकर्तारः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेद + विक्रय + कर्तृ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्तृवाचक-तृप्रत्यय; पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-बहुवचन (Nominative plural); तत्पुरुष (determinative: “sellers of the Veda”)

• ब्राह्मणाः: Brahmins
• ब्राह्मणाः: Karta (Apposition/समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-बहुवचन (Nominative plural)

• शौचवर्जिताः: devoid of cleanliness/purity
• शौचवर्जिताः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शौच + वर्जित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past participle); पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-बहुवचन (Nominative plural); तत्पुरुष (determinative: “devoid of purity”)

Speaker

Unknown (contextual narrator in Nāgarakhaṇḍa; speaker not explicit in the snippet)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A teacher in a marketplace exchanging palm-leaf Veda manuscripts for coins; nearby, a neglected ritual space with scattered vessels; in the background, a tīrtha shrine stands as silent witness.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred knowledge should not be commodified; purity (śauca) and integrity are essential for custodians of dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None is named in this verse; it is a general Kali-yuga critique within a tīrtha-mahātmya chapter.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No rite is prescribed; the verse condemns veda-vikraya and the loss of śauca.