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Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 38

द्यामालेखीति मंत्रं स प्रोच्चार्य विधिपूर्वकम् । छंदर्षिसहितं चैव यावत्क्षिपति मस्तके । तावन्निरीक्षितस्तेन नखलेखाविकर्तितः

dyāmālekhīti maṃtraṃ sa proccārya vidhipūrvakam | chaṃdarṣisahitaṃ caiva yāvatkṣipati mastake | tāvannirīkṣitastena nakhalekhāvikartitaḥ

Récitant selon le rite le mantra commençant par « dyāmālekhī… », avec son chandas et son ṛṣi, il le projeta sur la tête du roi. À l’instant même, on le remarqua : sa lèvre était meurtrie, comme entaillée par l’éraflure d’un ongle.

द्यामालेखीति“dyāmālekhī” thus
द्यामालेखीति:
Sambandha/Quotation marker (सम्बन्ध)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootद्यामालेखी + इति (अव्यय)
Formइति-प्रयोगः (quotative particle) मन्त्रनाम-निर्देश; ‘(called) dyāmālekhī’
मन्त्रम्mantra
मन्त्रम्:
Karma (Object/कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootमन्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; accusative singular masculine
सःhe
सः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; pronoun nominative singular
प्रोच्चार्यhaving recited
प्रोच्चार्य:
Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootप्र-उच्चर् (धातु)
Formक्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund); ‘having uttered/recited’
विधिपूर्वकम्according to the prescribed procedure
विधिपूर्वकम्:
Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootविधि + पूर्वक (प्रातिपदिक)
Formअव्ययीभाववत् क्रियाविशेषण-प्रयोग; नपुंसक एकवचन रूपेण; ‘according to rule’
छन्दर्षिसहितम्together with (its) metre and seer
छन्दर्षिसहितम्:
Karma (Object-qualifier/कर्मविशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rootछन्दस् + ऋषि + सहित (प्रातिपदिक)
Formनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘together with the metre and the seer’ (as mantra-accessories)
and
:
Samuccaya (Connector/समुच्चय)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootच (अव्यय)
Formसमुच्चयबोधक अव्यय; conjunction ‘and’
एवindeed
एव:
Nipata (Emphasis/निपात)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootएव (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय; अवधारणार्थक; ‘indeed/just’
यावत्until/as long as
यावत्:
Kala-parimana (Temporal limit/काल)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootयावत् (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय; परिमाण/अवधि-वाचक; ‘as long as/until’
क्षिपतिthrows/places
क्षिपति:
Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootक्षिप् (धातु)
Formलट्-लकार (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; ‘throws/places’
मस्तकेon the head
मस्तके:
Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
TypeNoun
Rootमस्तक (प्रातिपदिक)
Formनपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; locative singular neuter
तावत्for that long
तावत्:
Kala-parimana (Temporal extent/काल)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतावत् (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय; तावदर्थक; ‘so long/that long’
निरीक्षितःwas observed
निरीक्षितः:
Kriya (Passive predicate/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootनि-ईक्ष् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle) passive sense; ‘was looked at/observed’
तेनby him
तेन:
Karana (Agent-instrument in passive/करण)
TypeNoun
Rootतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुं/नपुंसक, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; instrumental singular; ‘by him’
नखलेखाविकर्तितःscratched/cut by nail-marks
नखलेखाविकर्तितः:
Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rootनख + लेखा + विकर्तित (कृदन्त; कृद्/कर्त् (धातु) + क्त)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘cut/scratched by nail-marks’ (PPP used adjectivally)

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator)

Scene: The priest recites the ‘dyāmālekhī…’ mantra with its seer and meter, casts the empowered blessing upon the king’s head, and instantly a scratch-like cut appears on the king’s lip, startling onlookers.

M
mantra (dyāmālekhī-incipit)
C
chandas
ṛṣi
K
king (nṛpa)

FAQs

Mantra is not merely sound; its efficacy is tied to disciplined transmission—recited with its ṛṣi and chandas—and the rite may reveal immediate signs that shape the moral narrative.

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it focuses on mantra-vidhi within a Māhātmya storyline.

Reciting a mantra with its chandas and ṛṣi and applying it (casting/sprinkling) upon the head as part of a śāntika procedure.