Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

अस्थिचर्मावशेषाङ्गाः कपालोद्धृतपाणयः । अलब्धग्रासमर्द्धार्धं निर्ययुर्नगराद्बहिः

Transliteration

asthicarmāvaśeṣāṅgāḥ kapāloddhṛtapāṇayaḥ | alabdhagrāsamarddhārdhaṃ niryayurnagarādbahiḥ

Translation

Dengan tubuh tinggal sisa tulang dan kulit, tangan menjunjung mangkuk sedekah dari tengkorak, dan tanpa memperoleh bahkan setengah suap makanan, mereka pun keluar melampaui kota.

Word by Word

• asthi: bone
• asthi: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asthi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); “अस्थि” (bone)

• carma: skin
• carma: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: carma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); “चर्म” (skin)

• avaśeṣāṅgāḥ: with only remnants of limbs
• avaśeṣāṅgāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: avaśeṣa + aṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष—“अवशेषाणि अङ्गानि येषाम्” इत्यर्थे (remnant-limbed)

• kapāla: skull-bowl
• kapāla: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kapāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); “कपाल” (skull/bowl)

• uddhṛta: held up
• uddhṛta: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uddhṛta (कृदन्त, ud + √hṛ/हृ हरणे)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); भूतकृदन्त (क्त) “उद्धृत” (raised/held up)

• pāṇayaḥ: hands
• pāṇayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāṇi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; “हस्ताः”

• kapāloddhṛtapāṇayaḥ: with hands holding skull-bowls
• kapāloddhṛtapāṇayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kapāla + uddhṛta + pāṇi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहि—“कपालम् उद्धृतं पाणौ येषाम्/कपालं उद्धृतपाणयः” (whose hands hold up a skull-bowl)

• alabdha: not obtained
• alabdha: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: alabdha (कृदन्त, √labh/लभ प्राप्तौ)
• Form: प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); नञ्-पूर्वक भूतकृदन्त (क्त) “अलब्ध” (not obtained)

• grāsa: a mouthful
• grāsa: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: grāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); “ग्रास” (mouthful of food)

• marddha: half
• marddha: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: marddha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग); “अर्ध” इत्यर्थे पाठभेद/रूपभेद (half)

• ardham: half
• ardham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ardha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; “अर्धम्” (half)

• alabdhagrāsamarddhārdham: not obtaining even half a mouthful
• alabdhagrāsamarddhārdham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: alabdha + grāsa + marddha + ardha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास—“अलब्धः ग्रासः (येषाम्), (तस्य) अर्धम्” इत्यर्थे; क्रियाविशेषणवत्—“(even) half a mouthful not obtained”

• niryayuḥ: they went out
• niryayuḥ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: nir + √yā (या प्रापणे/गत्यर्थे)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद; “निर्ययुः” (they went out)

• nagarāt: from the city
• nagarāt: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nagara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन; “नगरात्” (from the city)

• bahiḥ: outside
• bahiḥ: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: bahiḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक अव्यय (adverb: “outside”)

Speaker

Śaṅkara (Śiva) (deduced from 133.38)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Gaunt figures—Lokapālas in a deliberately humbled, ascetic guise—holding skull-bowls, leaving the city after failing to obtain even half a morsel; stark contrast between divine status and destitution.

Characters & Entities

• Lokapāla
• Kapāla (skull-bowl)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pride and wrongdoing can reduce even exalted beings to destitution; suffering becomes a visible sign of karmic consequence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage remains within the Revā-khaṇḍa’s sacred landscape, preparing for later tīrtha-phala statements in the same adhyāya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription here; it narrates the state of hunger and alms-seeking (bhaikṣa) as consequence.