Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

यस्माल्लिंगार्थमागत्य ह्याश्रमांश्चोरवत्कृतम् । परदारापहरणं तल्लिङ्गं पततां भुवि

Transliteration

yasmālliṃgārthamāgatya hyāśramāṃścoravatkṛtam | paradārāpaharaṇaṃ talliṅgaṃ patatāṃ bhuvi

Translation

ലിംഗാർത്ഥമായി ഇവിടെ വന്ന് ആശ്രമങ്ങളിൽ കള്ളനെപ്പോലെ പെരുമാറുകയും പരസ്ത്രീകളെ അപഹരിക്കുകയും ചെയ്തതുകൊണ്ട്, ആ ലിംഗം ഭൂമിയിൽ പതിക്കട്ടെ!

Word by Word

• यस्मात्: from which/wherefrom
• यस्मात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• लिङ्गार्थम्: for the sake of the liṅga
• लिङ्गार्थम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक) + अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (लिङ्गस्य अर्थः)

• आगत्य: having come
• आगत्य: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial to main action/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive), पूर्वक्रिया; धातु: गम्, उपसर्ग: आ

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle/emphatic)

• आश्रमान्: hermitages
• आश्रमान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आश्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन

• चोरवत्: like a thief
• चोरवत्: Kriya-viseshana (Manner/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: चोर (प्रातिपदिक) + वत् (तद्धित-प्रत्यय)
• Form: अव्यय-उपमा (adverbial comparison); ‘-वत्’ = like/as

• कृतम्: was done/committed
• कृतम्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त-क्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मणि-प्रयोगार्थक (done)

• परदारापहरणम्: abduction of another’s wife
• परदारापहरणम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक) + दारा (प्रातिपदिक) + अपहरण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (परस्य दाराणाम् अपहरणम्)

• तत्: that
• तत्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण (liṅgaṃ इति)

• लिङ्गम्: liṅga
• लिङ्गम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• पतताम्: of those who fall
• पतताम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्यय (present active participle) ‘पतत्’; षष्ठी-विभक्ति (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; ‘of those falling’

• भुवि: on the earth
• भुवि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भू (प्रातिपदिक: भुव्/भू)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th/Locative), एकवचन

Speaker

Dvijātayaḥ / Munayaḥ (the sages), cursing

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An elder sage points in condemnation while others echo; in the sky or above the ground, a radiant liṅga begins to descend, as if pulled by the force of the curse, toward the earth near the hermitage.

Characters & Entities

• Liṅga
• Āśrama
• Dvijātayaḥ (twice-born sages)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Violation of marital and āśrama boundaries is condemned as theft; dharma frames such acts as grave disorder requiring cosmic correction.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The tīrtha is not named in this verse; however, the falling of the liṅga commonly signals the emergence or sanctification of a sacred spot in māhātmya narratives.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse centers on a śāpa (curse) connected to the liṅga.