Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

समानगोत्रप्रवरां कन्यामूढ्वोपगम्य च । तस्यामुत्पाद्य चांडालं ब्राह्मण्यादेव हीयते

Transliteration

samānagotrapravarāṃ kanyāmūḍhvopagamya ca | tasyāmutpādya cāṃḍālaṃ brāhmaṇyādeva hīyate

Translation

സമാന ഗോത്രവും സമാന പ്രവരവും ഉള്ള കന്യയെ വിവാഹം ചെയ്ത് അവളോടു സഹവസിച്ച് സന്താനം ജനിപ്പിച്ചാൽ, ആ സന്താനം ചാണ്ഡാലനാകും; ആ പുരുഷനും ബ്രാഹ്മണ്യത്തിൽ നിന്ന് തന്നെ പതിതനാകും.

Word by Word

• समान-गोत्र-प्रवराम्: a girl of the same gotra and pravara
• समान-गोत्र-प्रवराम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: समान (प्रातिपदिक) + गोत्र (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रवर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (कन्याम् प्रति)

• कन्याम्: a maiden/girl
• कन्याम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कन्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• ऊढ्वा: having married
• ऊढ्वा: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वह् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (Gerund); √वह् → ऊढ्वा (having married/taken as wife)

• उपगम्य: having approached/consorted with
• उपगम्य: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उप-√गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (Gerund)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय

• तस्याम्: in her
• तस्याम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• उत्पाद्य: having produced/engendered
• उत्पाद्य: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उत्-√पद्/√पाद् (धातु; causative sense ‘to produce’)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (Gerund); ‘having produced/engendered’

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय

• चाण्डालम्: a caṇḍāla (outcaste)
• चाण्डालम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चाण्डाल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• ब्राह्मण्यात्: from Brahminhood (Brahmin status)
• ब्राह्मण्यात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन

• एव: indeed
• एव: Sambandha (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चयार्थक-अव्यय

• हीयते: declines/is degraded
• हीयते: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √हा (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; कर्मणि/भावे प्रयोगः (is diminished/declines)

Speaker

Unspecified (general dharma warning within the Purāṇic discourse)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cautionary tableau: a wedding fire in the background, but the scene darkens as an elder raises a hand to stop the rite upon discovering shared gotra/pravara; the mood is grave, emphasizing prevention.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Transgressing dharmic boundaries in marriage is portrayed as spiritually and socially destructive, diminishing one’s sacred status.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None; the focus is on dharma regarding lineage in marriage.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A prohibition: do not marry within the same gotra and pravara.