Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

ततस्तैः पतितो भूमौ दृष्टो मृतकुमारकः । मंत्रयित्वा मिथः पश्चाद्गृहीतो भक्षणाय च

Transliteration

tatastaiḥ patito bhūmau dṛṣṭo mṛtakumārakaḥ | maṃtrayitvā mithaḥ paścādgṛhīto bhakṣaṇāya ca

Translation

ಆಗ ಅವರು ಭೂಮಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿದ್ದಿದ್ದ ಮೃತ ಬಾಲಕನನ್ನು ಕಂಡರು. ಪರಸ್ಪರ ಮಂತ್ರಿಸಿ, ನಂತರ ಅವನನ್ನು ಎತ್ತಿಕೊಂಡು—ಭಕ್ಷಿಸುವುದಕ್ಕಾಗಿಯೂ—ಕೊಂಡೊಯ್ದರು.

Word by Word

• tatas: then/thereupon
• tatas: Sambandha (Discourse connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (indeclinable adverb): क्रम/अनन्तरार्थे (thereupon/then)

• taiḥ: by them
• taiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम (instrumental plural)

• patitaḥ: fallen
• patitaḥ: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pat (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण

• bhūmau: on the ground
• bhūmau: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūmi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• dṛṣṭaḥ: seen/found
• dṛṣṭaḥ: Karma (Object in passive/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dṛś (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; (passive sense) ‘seen’

• mṛta-kumārakaḥ: the dead boy
• mṛta-kumārakaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mṛta (dṛś? actually mṛ ‘to die’ + kta) + kumāraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (dead + boy); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• mantrayitvā: having conferred
• mantrayitvā: Kriya-viseshana (Absolutive adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: mantr (धातु) + त्वा (क्त्वा)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund); पूर्वकाले (having consulted)

• mithaḥ: among themselves
• mithaḥ: Sambandha (Discourse/परस्पर-संबन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: mithaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (reciprocal adverb): परस्परम् (mutually)

• paścāt: afterwards
• paścāt: Sambandha (Temporal connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: paścāt (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb): अनन्तरम् (afterwards)

• gṛhītaḥ: was taken/seized
• gṛhītaḥ: Karma (Object in passive/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: grah (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; (passive) ‘was seized/taken’

• bhakṣaṇāya: for eating
• bhakṣaṇāya: Sampradana (Purpose/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhakṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/सम्प्रदान), एकवचन; प्रयोजनार्थे (for the purpose of eating)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conjunction): समुच्चय (and)

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narrator; unspecified in snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A group of starving ascetics/wayfarers discover a lifeless boy on the ground; after whispered consultation, they lift the body with grim intent.

Characters & Entities

• Sages (munis)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Hunger can drive even the learned toward adharma; Purāṇas frame such moments to teach repentance, restraint, and the path back to purity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not named in this verse; it is part of the moral-plot that later supports the tīrtha’s purifying greatness.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Not here; later verses introduce prāyaścitta (expiation) and corrective conduct.