Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 2

Devanagari script

कथं स भगवान्रुद्रो भार्याशापमवाप ह । वैकृतं रूपमासाद्य पुनर्दिव्यं वपुः श्रितः

Transliteration

kathaṃ sa bhagavānrudro bhāryāśāpamavāpa ha | vaikṛtaṃ rūpamāsādya punardivyaṃ vapuḥ śritaḥ

Translation

かの尊きルドラはいかにして妻の呪いを受けられたのか。さらに歪んだ姿を帯びたのち、いかにして再び神々しい御身をお取りになったのか。

Word by Word

• कथम्: how?
• कथम्: Sambandha (Interrogative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम् (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb)

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• भगवान्: the Lord
• भगवान्: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भगवत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• रुद्रः: Rudra
• रुद्रः: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• भार्या-शापम्: the wife's curse
• भार्या-शापम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भार्या (प्रातिपदिक) + शाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (genitive determinative): 'भार्यायाः शापः'

• अवाप: obtained; incurred
• अवाप: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √आप् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/past), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• ह: indeed
• ह: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ह (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle; emphasis)

• वैकृतम्: altered; unnatural
• वैकृतम्: Karma (Object-qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वैकृत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• रूपम्: form
• रूपम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• आसाद्य: having assumed/attained
• आसाद्य: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-√सद् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभाव; 'having attained'

• पुनः: again
• पुनः: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय (adverb)

• दिव्यम्: divine
• दिव्यम्: Karma (Object-qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दिव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• वपुः: body
• वपुः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वपुस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• श्रितः: having resorted to; assumed
• श्रितः: Karta (Predicate participle/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √श्रि (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्तरि प्रयोगे 'having resorted to/assumed'

Speaker

Śūdra (continuing question; implied from prior verse)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Gālava (implied respondent)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage narrates how Rudra, under Pārvatī’s curse, takes on a ‘vaikṛta’ (altered) form—perhaps emaciated, masked, or shadowed—then regains radiant divinity after propitiation; the scene alternates between two iconographic states.

Characters & Entities

• Rudra (Śiva)
• Pārvatī (implied as wife)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic narratives use transformation and restoration to teach that disharmony (even via curse) is ultimately resolved into divine order and grace.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not specified in this standalone verse; it belongs to the broader Tīrthamāhātmya framework of Nāgarakhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it is a question prompting the ensuing account.