Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 29

Devanagari script

अन्यस्मिन्नहनि प्राप्ते प्रावृट्काले निशागमे । कृष्णपक्षे तमोभूते अलक्ष्येऽपि गते पुरः

Transliteration

anyasminnahani prāpte prāvṛṭkāle niśāgame | kṛṣṇapakṣe tamobhūte alakṣye'pi gate puraḥ

Translation

മറ്റൊരു ദിവസം, വർഷാകാലത്ത് രാത്രി വന്നപ്പോൾ, കൃഷ്ണപക്ഷത്തിലെ ഘനാന്ധകാരം പരന്നു, മുന്നിലുള്ള നഗരം പോലും വ്യക്തമായി കാണാനാകാത്തവിധം ആയപ്പോൾ…

Word by Word

• anyasmin: on another
• anyasmin: Adhikarana (Location/Time)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; विशेषण (अहनि)

• ahani: day
• ahani: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ahan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• prāpte: having arrived
• prāpte: Adhikarana (Temporal absolute)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: āp (धातु) + pra- + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; सति-सप्तमी (when it had come)

• prāvṛṭkāle: in the rainy season
• prāvṛṭkāle: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prāvṛṭ (प्रातिपदिक) + kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (प्रावृटः कालः)

• niśāgame: at the coming of night
• niśāgame: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: niśā (प्रातिपदिक) + āgama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (निशायाः आगमः)

• kṛṣṇapakṣe: in the dark fortnight
• kṛṣṇapakṣe: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛṣṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + pakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; कर्मधारय (कृष्णः पक्षः)

• tamobhūte: when it had become dark
• tamobhūte: Adhikarana (Temporal absolute)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tamas (प्रातिपदिक) + bhū (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (तमः भूते = become dark)

• alakṣye: when (things were) not visible
• alakṣye: Adhikarana (Time/Condition)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-lakṣya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; विशेषण (काले/समये)

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle: even/also)

• gate: having gone/passed
• gate: Adhikarana (Temporal absolute)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gam (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; सति-सप्तमी (when it had gone/passed)

• puraḥ: ahead/in front
• puraḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: puras (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: in front/forward; also ‘before’)

Speaker

Narrator (within Nāgara-khaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya frame; specific speaker not explicit in snippet)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A monsoon night descends; clouds cover the sky; the city ahead is barely visible; figures move cautiously with lamps, the road slick with rain.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The verse sets a karmic atmosphere—dark time and obscurity—often used in Purāṇas to foreshadow moral testing and consequences.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tirtha is named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a narrative time-and-season setting.