Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 52

Devanagari script

एष चाष्टादशो नाम कथितश्च निदाघकः । ज्वलितांगारसंकीर्णो दुःसेव्यः सर्वदेहिनाम्

Transliteration

eṣa cāṣṭādaśo nāma kathitaśca nidāghakaḥ | jvalitāṃgārasaṃkīrṇo duḥsevyaḥ sarvadehinām

Translation

ഇത് പതിനെട്ടാമത്തെ നരകമെന്ന് ‘നിദാഘക’ എന്ന പേരിൽ പറയപ്പെടുന്നു; ജ്വലിക്കുന്ന അങ്കാരങ്ങൾ നിറഞ്ഞതും സർവ്വദേഹികൾക്കും അസഹ്യവുമാണ്।

Word by Word

• eṣaḥ: this
• eṣaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय

• aṣṭādaśaḥ: eighteenth
• aṣṭādaśaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭādaśan (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; संख्या-शब्दः विशेषणम् (‘eighteenth’)

• nāma: named
• nāma: Sambandha (Naming/संज्ञा)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nāma (अव्यय)
• Form: नामनिर्देशक-अव्यय

• kathitaḥ: is described
• kathitaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kath (कथ् धातु) → kathita (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: कृदन्तः (past passive participle/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘is said/told’

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय

• nidāghakaḥ: (the hell) Nidāghaka
• nidāghakaḥ: Samānādhikaraṇa (Apposition/विशेष्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nidāghaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• jvalita-aṅgāra-saṃkīrṇaḥ: strewn with burning coals
• jvalita-aṅgāra-saṃkīrṇaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jvalita (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक) + aṅgāra (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃkīrṇa (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (‘with burning coals strewn about’)

• duḥ-sevyaḥ: hard to endure
• duḥ-sevyaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: duḥ (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + sevya (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (‘hard to endure/approach’)

• sarva-dehinām: of all embodied beings
• sarva-dehinām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + dehin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (‘of all embodied beings’)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Nidāghaka (Aṣṭādaśa-naraka)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A furnace-like landscape carpeted with glowing embers; waves of heat distort the air; beings recoil, unable to step without burning, while ember showers fall like sparks in a dark-red sky.

Characters & Entities

• Nidāghaka (name of a naraka)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sin leads to burning remorse and suffering; the text uses heat imagery to motivate self-restraint and purification.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is a descriptive entry in the naraka sequence.