Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 14

Devanagari script

किं वा हरेण तुष्टेन किं वा देवेन चक्रिणा । नान्यप्रबोधितस्यैवं ज्ञानं संजायते स्फुटम्

Transliteration

kiṃ vā hareṇa tuṣṭena kiṃ vā devena cakriṇā | nānyaprabodhitasyaivaṃ jñānaṃ saṃjāyate sphuṭam

Translation

“അല്ലെങ്കിൽ പ്രസന്നനായ ഹരിയാലോ, അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ചക്രധാരിയായ ദേവനാലോ? മറ്റൊരാളുടെ പ്രബോധനം കൂടാതെ ഇങ്ങനെ സ്ഫുടമായ ജ്ഞാനം ഉദിക്കുകയില്ല.”

Word by Word

• kim: whether
• kim: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रश्नार्थक — ‘whether?’

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Disjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (विकल्पार्थक) — ‘or’

• hareṇa: by Hari
• hareṇa: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hari (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन — ‘by Hari (Viṣṇu)’

• tuṣṭena: pleased
• tuṣṭena: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tuṣṭa (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; ‘pleased’ — ‘hareṇa’ विशेषणम्

• kim: whether
• kim: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रश्नार्थक — ‘whether?’

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Disjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (विकल्प) — ‘or’

• devena: by the god
• devena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन — ‘by the god’

• cakriṇā: by the discus-bearer
• cakriṇā: Viśeṣaṇa (Appositional/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cakrin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; ‘the discus-bearer’ (Viṣṇu) — ‘devena’ विशेषणम्

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (निषेध)

• anya-prabodhitasya: of one instructed by another
• anya-prabodhitasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक) + prabodhita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसक? षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (कर्मधारय/षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषभाव) ‘अन्येन प्रबोधितः’ → ‘one instructed by another’; अत्र षष्ठी-सम्बन्धः ‘(तस्य) ज्ञानम्’

• evam: thus
• evam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Manner/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (प्रकार) — ‘thus’

• jñānam: knowledge
• jñānam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jñāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• saṃjāyate: arises
• saṃjāyate: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam√jan (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद; ‘arises/comes into being’

• sphuṭam: clearly
• sphuṭam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Manner/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sphuṭa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् क्रियाविशेषण (नपुंसक एकवचन रूपेण) — ‘clearly, distinctly’

Speaker

Ṛtvijaḥ (the priests), addressing the jñānī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Listeners invoke possibilities: Hari or the discus-bearing Lord; a faint imagined vision of Viṣṇu with Sudarśana may appear behind the sage as a symbolic overlay.

Characters & Entities

• Hari
• Viṣṇu (Cakrin)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Clear realization is portrayed as the fruit of awakening—received through instruction or grace—rather than mere self-assertion.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse focuses on spiritual causality (prabodha) rather than ritual.