Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 25

Devanagari script

सोऽपि तच्चक्रमालोक्य वासुदेवकराच्च्युतम् । आगच्छंतं प्रसार्यास्यं ग्रस्तुं तत्संमुखो ययौ

Transliteration

so'pi taccakramālokya vāsudevakarāccyutam | āgacchaṃtaṃ prasāryāsyaṃ grastuṃ tatsaṃmukho yayau

Translation

Voyant le disque sacré, lâché de la main de Vāsudeva, fondre sur lui, il ouvrit à son tour la bouche toute grande pour l’engloutir et s’avança droit pour lui faire face.

Word by Word

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — कर्ता

• api: also
• api: Sambandha-dyotaka (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि-अव्यय (particle: also/even)

• tat-cakram: that discus
• tat-cakram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + cakra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — कर्म (object of ‘ālokya’); ‘that discus’

• ālokya: having seen
• ālokya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ā + lok (धातु) + त्वा (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त कृदन्त (gerund) — ‘having seen’

• vāsudeva-karāt: from Vāsudeva's hand
• vāsudeva-karāt: Apādāna (Ablative source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāsudeva (प्रातिपदिक) + kara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन — अपादान (source/ablative)

• cyutam: released, fallen forth
• cyutam: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: cyu (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP) ‘cyuta’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — विशेषणम् (qualifying ‘tat-cakram’): ‘fallen/released’

• āgacchantam: approaching
• āgacchantam: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ā + gam (धातु) + शतृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले परस्मैपदे शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (present active participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — विशेषणम् (qualifying ‘tat-cakram’): ‘coming/approaching’

• prasārya: having stretched out
• prasārya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: pra + sṛ (धातु) + णिच्? (causative sense) + त्वा (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त कृदन्त (gerund) — ‘having stretched/extended’ (context: mouth)

• āsyam: mouth
• āsyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āsya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — कर्म (object of ‘prasārya’)

• grastum: to swallow
• grastum: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: gras (धातु) + तुमुन् (कृदन्त)
• Form: तुमुनन्त (infinitive) — प्रयोजनार्थकः (‘in order to swallow’)

• tat-sammukhaḥ: facing it, confronting it
• tat-sammukhaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + sammukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — विशेषणम् (qualifying ‘saḥ’): ‘facing it’

• yayau: went, advanced
• yayau: Kriyā (Verbal action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yā (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/Perfect), परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — ‘he went’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Kālakhaṃja, facing the incoming flaming Sudarśana, opens his mouth wide in a desperate, arrogant attempt to swallow it, stepping forward to meet the spinning fire-disc head-on.

Characters & Entities

• Vāsudeva (Viṣṇu)
• Sudarśana Cakra
• Daitya (Kālakhaṃja implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pride makes one challenge what should be revered; attempting to ‘consume’ divine order leads to one’s own undoing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The line is within a tīrtha-māhātmya chapter but does not itself specify the tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse.