Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 52

Devanagari script

ततो जीवितनाशेन गात्रशुद्धिः प्रजायते

Transliteration

tato jīvitanāśena gātraśuddhiḥ prajāyate

Translation

അനന്തരം ജീവൻ നഷ്ടപ്പെടുന്നതിലൂടെ ദേഹശുദ്ധി ലഭിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• ततः: then
• ततः: Kāla/krama (Sequence/क्रम)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रमवाचक-अव्यय (then/thereupon)

• जीवितनाशेन: by the loss of life
• जीवितनाशेन: Karaṇa/Hetu (Instrument/Cause/करण-हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जीवित + नाश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन (Singular)

• गात्रशुद्धिः: purification of the body
• गात्रशुद्धिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गात्र + शुद्धि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• प्रजायते: arises; occurs
• प्रजायते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

Speaker

Brāhmaṇa (ritual instructor)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Tiṃginī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The culmination of the ordeal: the practitioner’s life ebbs as the vow completes; attendants witness with solemnity; the scene emphasizes transcendence and purification rather than gore.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Some expiations are depicted as ultimate self-surrender, emphasizing the gravity of certain sins and the ideal of complete purification.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The statement belongs to the Tiṃginī-centered expiation narrative within this chapter’s tīrtha discourse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It concludes the described austerity as culminating in death, presented as producing bodily purification.