Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 86

Devanagari script

एवं जानन्कथं स्तौमि म्रियमाणं नराधमम्

Transliteration

evaṃ jānankathaṃ staumi mriyamāṇaṃ narādhamam

Translation

Sachant cela, comment pourrais-je louer un misérable homme en train de mourir ?

Word by Word

• एवम्: thus
• एवम्: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• जानन्: knowing
• जानन्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्ञा (धातु) → जानत् (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘knowing’ (agreeing with implied अहम्)

• कथम्: how?
• कथम्: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम् (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नाव्यय (interrogative adverb)

• स्तौमि: I praise
• स्तौमि: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्तु (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान/present), उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• म्रियमाणम्: dying
• म्रियमाणम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मृ (धातु) → म्रियमाण (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शानच्), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘dying’ qualifying नराधमम्

• नराधमम्: the lowest of men
• नराधमम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक) + अधम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मधारय ‘अधमः नरः’

Speaker

Prahlāda (as part of the exchange with his guru)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and sages (frame typical) / interlocutor within the episode

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A speaker, aware of dharma, recoils from praising a dying, morally fallen man; the atmosphere is dim, with the dying figure on a low bed or on the ground, attendants silent.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

At life’s end, praise and remembrance should be directed toward the divine rather than toward unworthy or merely worldly persons.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse belongs to the Vastrāpatha-kṣetra-māhātmya within Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, where teachings are framed by the sanctity of the kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a doctrinal-ethical statement about stuti (praise) and right remembrance.