Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

एकाकी भ्रममाणोऽथ सोऽपि कष्टवशं गतः । क्षुत्तृष्णासुपरिश्रांतः क्षेत्रेऽत्रैव समागतः

Transliteration

ekākī bhramamāṇo'tha so'pi kaṣṭavaśaṃ gataḥ | kṣuttṛṣṇāsupariśrāṃtaḥ kṣetre'traiva samāgataḥ

Translation

Ensuite, errant seul, il tomba sous l’emprise de la détresse ; épuisé par la faim et la soif, il parvint ici même, en ce kṣetra sacré.

Word by Word

• ekākī: alone
• ekākī: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ekākin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• bhramamāṇaḥ: wandering
• bhramamāṇaḥ: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhram (धातु) + śatṛ (शतृ)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले कृदन्त (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘wandering’

• atha: then
• atha: Sambandha (Discourse connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अनुक्रम/प्रस्ताव (discourse particle): ‘then/now’

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

• api: also
• api: Sambandha (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, ‘also/even’

• kaṣṭa-vaśam: into the power of hardship
• kaṣṭa-vaśam: Karman (Goal/state as object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kaṣṭa (प्रातिपदिक) + vaśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: कष्टवश (Tatpurusha: ‘under the control of hardship’); पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; गतः इत्यस्य गत्यर्थकर्म

• gataḥ: went/was reduced
• gataḥ: Kriya (Predicative verbal notion/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past participle) used predicatively; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘gone/come to’

• kṣut-tṛṣṇāsu-pariśrāntaḥ: exhausted by hunger and thirst
• kṣut-tṛṣṇāsu-pariśrāntaḥ: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṣut (प्रातिपदिक) + tṛṣṇā (प्रातिपदिक) + pariśrānta (pari+śram धातु + क्त)
• Form: समास: क्षुत्तृष्णासुपरिश्रान्त (Tatpurusha; ‘due to hunger and thirst’ + ‘exhausted’); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• kṣetre: in the field/holy place
• kṣetre: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन

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

• eva: indeed/just
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अवधारण (emphatic particle): ‘indeed/just’

• samāgataḥ: arrived
• samāgataḥ: Kriya (Predicative verbal notion/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam + ā + gam (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past participle) used predicatively; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘arrived’

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration within Tīrthamāhātmya; specific speaker not explicit in the verse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Suparṇākhyā-kṣetra (the ‘atra kṣetre’ in this episode)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A lone traveler, emaciated, reaches the boundary of a sacred grove/kshetra; a riverbank or temple spire appears in the distance, suggesting hope amid exhaustion.

Characters & Entities

• Kṣetra (sacred region)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even distress can become grace when it drives a person into a kṣetra—holy geography is portrayed as a living refuge for the afflicted.

Which specific holy site (Tīrtha) is glorified here?

The narrative signals “this very kṣetra,” soon identified with the Suparṇākhyā-associated shrine/temple in the next verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse emphasizes the pilgrim-condition (hunger, thirst, exhaustion) preceding sacred encounter.