Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

काश्चिदर्द्धानुलिप्तांग्यः काश्चिदेकांजितेक्षणाः । अर्धसंयमितैः कैशैस्तथान्यास्त्यक्तबालकाः

Transliteration

kāścidarddhānuliptāṃgyaḥ kāścidekāṃjitekṣaṇāḥ | ardhasaṃyamitaiḥ kaiśaistathānyāstyaktabālakāḥ

Translation

ചില സ്ത്രീകളുടെ ശരീരത്തിൽ പകുതിമാത്രം അനുലേപനം പുരട്ടിയിരുന്നു, ചിലർക്കൊരുകണ്ണിൽ മാത്രം അഞ്ജനം; ചിലരുടെ മുടി പകുതിയായി കെട്ടിയിരുന്നു, മറ്റുചിലർ ഭീതിയിൽ കുഞ്ഞുങ്ങളെ വിട്ടിട്ടും ഓടിപ്പോയി।

Word by Word

• kāścit: some (women)
• kāścit: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन; अनिश्चित-प्रयोग (indefinite: ‘some’)

• ardha-anulipta-aṅgyaḥ: whose limbs are half-smeared (with unguent)
• ardha-anulipta-aṅgyaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival to kāścit)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ardha (प्रातिपदिक) + anu-lip (धातु) → anulipta (कृदन्त) + aṅgī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन; समासः (ardhena anuliptā aṅgāni yāsām) — ‘अर्धानुलिप्ताङ्गी’ बहुव्रीह्यर्थे प्रयुक्तः, परन्तु रूपेण तत्पुरुष-समास-श्रृङ्खला

• kāścit: some (women)
• kāścit: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन; अनिश्चित-प्रयोग

• eka-añjita-īkṣaṇāḥ: with one eye anointed/painted
• eka-añjita-īkṣaṇāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival to kāścit)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + añj (धातु) → añjita (कृदन्त) + īkṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन; समासः (ekam īkṣaṇam añjitam yāsām)

• ardha-saṃyamitaiḥ: half-tied/half-restrained
• ardha-saṃyamitaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ardha (प्रातिपदिक) + sam-yam (धातु) → saṃyamita (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; तृतीया (Instrumental); बहुवचन; भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त; समासः (ardhena saṃyamitaiḥ)

• keśaiḥ: with (their) hair
• keśaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: keśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया (Instrumental); बहुवचन

• tathā: thus, likewise
• tathā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण

• anyāḥ: others (women)
• anyāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन

• tyakta-bālakāḥ: having abandoned (their) children
• tyakta-bālakāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival to anyāḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tyakta (कृदन्त) + bālaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन; समासः (tyaktāḥ bālakāḥ yāsām) — ‘having left (their) children’

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating to the sages (contextual deduction for Māhātmya-style narration)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Close-up vignettes: one woman half anointed with oil/paste, another with only one eye lined, hair half-tied; a mother stepping out abruptly while a child remains behind; all moving toward the same focal point off-frame.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Worldly attraction and sudden agitation are shown as unstable; the Māhātmya narrative prepares the reader for the deeper dharmic consequences that follow.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya setting; the exact named tīrtha is not stated in this verse alone.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it is descriptive narrative imagery.