Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 68

Devanagari script

कस्यचित्त्वथ कालस्य पंचत्वं च समागतः । जातिस्मरस्ततो जातस्तत्प्रभावान्नृपालये

Transliteration

kasyacittvatha kālasya paṃcatvaṃ ca samāgataḥ | jātismarastato jātastatprabhāvānnṛpālaye

Translation

കുറച്ച് കാലത്തിന് ശേഷം എനിക്ക് മരണം വന്നു; തുടർന്ന് അതേ പ്രഭാവത്താൽ ഞാൻ രാജഗൃഹത്തിൽ പൂർവജന്മസ്മൃതിയോടെ ജനിച്ചു।

Word by Word

• kasyacit: of some
• kasyacit: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुं, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन; अनिश्चितार्थ (indefinite)

• tu: indeed, but
• tu: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: विरोध/अन्वय-अव्यय (particle: but/indeed)

• atha: then
• atha: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अनन्तर/प्रारम्भ-अव्यय (then/now)

• kālasya: of time
• kālasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन

• paṃcatvam: the state of being five (death; dissolution into five elements)
• paṃcatvam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: paṃcatva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

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

• samāgataḥ: (he) attained, reached
• samāgataḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ā-√gam (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past participle, active sense), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन; ‘समागतः’ = has reached/attained

• jāti-smaraḥ: one who remembers past births
• jāti-smaraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jāti (प्रातिपदिक) + smara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (jātiṃ smarati iti)

• tataḥ: thereupon
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; अनुक्रम-बोधक (thereupon)

• jātaḥ: was born, became
• jātaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jan (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘जाताḥ’ = was born/became

• tat-prabhāvāt: due to its power/effect
• tat-prabhāvāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + prabhāva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/हेतु), एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (tasya prabhāvaḥ)

• nṛpa-ālaye: in the king's palace
• nṛpa-ālaye: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛpa (प्रातिपदिक) + ālaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (nṛpasya ālayaḥ)

Speaker

Baka

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Jāgeśvara (as causal tīrtha-devatā)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A transition tableau: the child’s life fades; then a new scene opens in a royal palace where a newborn/young prince has an uncanny, contemplative gaze, as if remembering; faint overlay of the Jāgeśvara-liṅga and ghee pot appears like a memory-vision.

Characters & Entities

• Jātismara
• Royal household (nṛpālaya)
• Death (pañcatva)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Karmic effects persist beyond death; spiritual impressions can grant jātismaratā (past-life memory), reinforcing accountability across lifetimes.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse alludes to “that power” from the preceding sacred Śaiva context (Jāgeśvara/Ghṛtakambala stream), indicating tīrtha influence across births.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it describes doctrinal outcome (rebirth with memory) rather than a practice.