Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 50

Devanagari script

ततो निष्कामतां प्राप्तो लज्जया परिवारितः । विससर्ज च तां रंभां शौचं चक्रे ततः परम्

Transliteration

tato niṣkāmatāṃ prāpto lajjayā parivāritaḥ | visasarja ca tāṃ raṃbhāṃ śaucaṃ cakre tataḥ param

Translation

അപ്പോൾ അവൻ ലജ്ജയാൽ ചുറ്റപ്പെട്ട് വീണ്ടും നിഷ്കാമത പ്രാപിച്ചു. രംഭയെ വിട്ടയച്ചു; തുടർന്ന് ശൗചശുദ്ധി ചെയ്തു.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: thereafter
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) = indeclinable adverb; अर्थे: अनन्तरम् (thereafter)

• niṣkāmatām: desirelessness
• niṣkāmatām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: niṣkāmatā (प्रातिपदिक; नि: + काम + ता)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन; भाववाचक-संज्ञा = feminine abstract noun, accusative singular

• prāptaḥ: having attained
• prāptaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √āp (धातु) + pra-; क्त-प्रत्यय (प्राप्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय, भूतकर्मणि/भूतभावे), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; past participle used predicatively = having attained

• lajjayā: by shame
• lajjayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lajjā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (करण), एकवचन; instrumental singular

• parivāritaḥ: overcome (surrounded)
• parivāritaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari + √vṛ (धातु) + क्त-प्रत्यय (परिवारित)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; past participle = surrounded/overcome

• visasarja: he dismissed/let go
• visasarja: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi + √sṛj (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्शभूत/Perfect), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; finite verb

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक-निपात) = conjunction ‘and’

• tām: her/that (woman)
• tām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; demonstrative pronoun

• raṃbhām: Rambhā
• raṃbhām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: raṃbhā (प्रातिपदिक; अप्सरस्-नाम)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; proper noun

• śaucam: purification/cleansing
• śaucam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śauca (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; accusative singular

• cakre: he performed/did
• cakre: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्शभूत/Perfect), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद; finite verb

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) = thereafter

• param: afterwards
• param: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रयोग (क्रियाविशेषण) = afterwards/next; मूलतः विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक ‘para’ used adverbially

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic voice)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (standard Purāṇic frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A great sage, eyes lowered in shame, gestures dismissal to the radiant apsaras Rambhā; immediately after, he performs purification—water vessel, riverbank/kuṇḍa, and austere posture.

Characters & Entities

• Rambhā
• Śauca (purification)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even after a lapse, turning back toward niṣkāmatā and undertaking śauca restores one’s dhārmic orientation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse mentions purification but does not name a specific tīrtha in the line itself.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Śauca (purification) is indicated generally, without detailing a specific method (snāna/japa/dāna) in this verse.