Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

या नारी पतिना त्यक्ता वंध्या वा भक्तिसंयुता । तृतीयादिवसे चैतां पूजयिष्यति केशव

Transliteration

yā nārī patinā tyaktā vaṃdhyā vā bhaktisaṃyutā | tṛtīyādivase caitāṃ pūjayiṣyati keśava

Translation

હે કેશવ! જે નારી પતિએ ત્યજી હોય અથવા વંધ્યા હોય, પરંતુ ભક્તિથી યુક્ત હોય, તે તૃતીયા તિથિથી આરંભ કરીને આ દેવીએ પૂજા કરવી જોઈએ।

Word by Word

• yā: who (which woman)
• yā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक (relative pronoun)

• nārī: woman
• nārī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nārī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• patinā: by (her) husband
• patinā: Kartr/Agent in passive (कर्ता-भाव)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन

• tyaktā: abandoned
• tyaktā: Predicate adjective (Viśeṣaṇa/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √tyaj (धातु) → tyakta (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past passive participle/क्त), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying nārī)

• vandhyā: barren
• vandhyā: Predicate adjective (Viśeṣaṇa/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vandhyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण

• vā: or
• vā: Discourse particle (Nipāta/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-अव्यय (disjunctive particle)

• bhakti-saṃyutā: endowed with devotion
• bhakti-saṃyutā: Predicate adjective (Viśeṣaṇa/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhakti (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃyuta (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त-भाव)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; तृतीया/षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषार्थ (devotion-endowed) विशेषण

• tṛtīya-ādi-vase: on the third day and onwards
• tṛtīya-ādi-vase: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tṛtīya (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक) + vasa/vas (प्रातिपदिक; 'day')
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; कालवाचक-सप्तमी; तृतीयादि- (from the third onward)

• ca: and
• ca: Connector (Nipāta/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• etām: this (goddess/rite/object)
• etām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• pūjayiṣyati: will worship
• pūjayiṣyati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √pūj (धातु) णिच् (causative)
• Form: लृट् (Future), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; णिजन्त (causative)

• keśava: O Keśava
• keśava: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: keśava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/vocative), एकवचन

Speaker

Brahmā (addressing Viṣṇu as Keśava; continuing phala/instruction)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Keśava/Vāsudeva (addressed)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sorrowful yet resolute woman approaches a shrine of Keśava, beginning her observance on tṛtīyā; she carries flowers and a small vessel of unguent, her posture turning from grief to devotion.

Characters & Entities

• Keśava (Viṣṇu)
• Subhadrā (contextual)
• Tṛtīyā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotion is presented as a restorative spiritual power, offering hope and auspicious change even in social and personal hardship.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The excerpt does not name the tīrtha; it remains within the chapter’s sacred-place framework.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Women in distress are advised to worship Subhadrā starting on Tṛtīyā (the third lunar day).