Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 2

Devanagari script

नारद उवाच । एतत्ते सर्वमाख्यातं राजन्कुष्ठस्य कारणम् । दारिद्र्यस्य च यत्सम्यग्ज्ञात्वा दिव्येन चक्षुषा

Transliteration

nārada uvāca | etatte sarvamākhyātaṃ rājankuṣṭhasya kāraṇam | dāridryasya ca yatsamyagjñātvā divyena cakṣuṣā

Translation

നാരദൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ രാജാവേ, ദിവ്യചക്ഷുസ്സാൽ ശരിയായി തിരിച്ചറിഞ്ഞ് കുഷ്ഠത്തിന്റെ കാരണവും ദാരിദ്ര്യത്തിന്റെ കാരണവും—ഇതെല്ലാം നിനക്കു ഞാൻ അറിയിച്ചു കഴിഞ്ഞു।

Word by Word

• nāradaḥ: Nārada
• nāradaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nārada (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; वक्ता

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object complement/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• te: to you/for you
• te: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th) एकवचन (enclitic); ‘of/for you’ (genitive/dative sense in context)

• sarvam: all
• sarvam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying etat)

• ākhyātam: has been explained
• ākhyātam: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-khyā (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्मणि-प्रयोगे ‘has been told’

• rājan: O king
• rājan: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• kuṣṭhasya: of leprosy
• kuṣṭhasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kuṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध

• kāraṇam: cause
• kāraṇam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; here as predicate-noun/object in apposition

• dāridryasya: of poverty
• dāridryasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dāridrya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध

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

• yat: which
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative pronoun)

• samyak: properly
• samyak: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: samyak (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb): सम्यक् (properly)

• jñātvā: having known
• jñātvā: Kriya (Prior action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jñā (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभाव; पूर्वक्रिया

• divyena: with divine
• divyena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: divya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन; करण (instrumental)

• cakṣuṣā: eye/vision
• cakṣuṣā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cakṣus (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; करण

Speaker

Nārada

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: King (rājan)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Nārada addresses the king directly, eyes luminous with divya-dṛṣṭi; the king listens as the sage summarizes the already-revealed causes of leprosy and poverty.

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• King (unnamed)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Suffering is framed as intelligible within dharma: sages diagnose causes through spiritual insight to guide correction.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The setting remains within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra-māhātmya narrative stream, though the verse focuses on moral causation.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; it introduces a completed diagnosis that will support subsequent prescriptions (prāyaścitta/dāna/vrata) in context.