Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 66

Devanagari script

स्त्रियः किमपराध्यन्ति गृहपञ्जरकोकिलाः । अनिर्दयो नृशंसस्त्वं कस्ते कोपः स्त्रियं प्रति

Transliteration

striyaḥ kimaparādhyanti gṛhapañjarakokilāḥ | anirdayo nṛśaṃsastvaṃ kaste kopaḥ striyaṃ prati

Translation

女たちに何の罪があるのか——家という籠に閉じ込められた郭公のような女たちに。お前は無慈悲で残忍だ。女に向けるその怒りは何なのか。

Word by Word

• striyaḥ: women
• striyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: strī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• kim: what
• kim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक (interrogative)

• aparādhyanti: commit an offense
• aparādhyanti: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: apa-√rādh (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• gṛha-pañjara-kokilāḥ: (like) cuckoos in a house-cage
• gṛha-pañjara-kokilāḥ: Apposition/Viśeṣaṇa (Descriptive apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gṛha (प्रातिपदिक) + pañjara (प्रातिपदिक) + kokila (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; समासः (बहुपद-तत्पुरुष): ‘cuckoos in the cage of the house’ (metaphor for confined women)

• anirdayaḥ: merciless
• anirdayaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-nirdaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (to tvam)

• nṛśaṃsaḥ: cruel
• nṛśaṃsaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nṛśaṃsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (to tvam): ‘cruel’

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (प्रातिपदिक सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• kaḥ: what/which
• kaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• te: your
• te: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (प्रातिपदिक सर्वनाम)
• Form: षष्ठी (Genitive), एकवचन; ‘of you/your’

• kopaḥ: anger
• kopaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kopa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• striyam: toward a woman
• striyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: strī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• prati: towards
• prati: Sambandha (Directional relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prati (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (उपसर्गसदृश/ preposition-like): ‘towards/against’

Speaker

Dānava women (collective lament; addressing Fire/agent of destruction)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A close-up tableau: a woman framed by a doorway like a bird in a cage, flames outside; she raises her hand in questioning protest toward the personified Fire, whose form is a fierce yet mindless blaze.

Characters & Entities

• Striyaḥ (women)
• Pāvaka (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The verse argues for moral restraint: innocents should not be targets, and cruelty is condemned as adharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None explicitly; it is an ethical appeal within the Revā Khaṇḍa narrative frame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.