Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 120

Devanagari script

विद्याविक्रयकर्तॄणां यत्पापं समुदाहृतम् । तन्मे स्याद्यदि नो हन्मि सर्पं दृष्टिवशं गतम्

Transliteration

vidyāvikrayakartṝṇāṃ yatpāpaṃ samudāhṛtam | tanme syādyadi no hanmi sarpaṃ dṛṣṭivaśaṃ gatam

Translation

വിദ്യ വിൽക്കുന്നവർക്കായി പ്രസ്താവിച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന പാപം എനിക്കു വരട്ടെ—എന്റെ ദൃഷ്ടിവശമായെത്തിയ ഈ സർപ്പത്തെ ഞാൻ വധിക്കാതിരുന്നാൽ.

Word by Word

• विद्या-विक्रय-कर्तॄणाम्: of the sellers of knowledge
• विद्या-विक्रय-कर्तॄणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विद्या (प्रातिपदिक) + विक्रय (प्रातिपदिक) + कर्तृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; समासः—विद्यायाः विक्रयस्य कर्तारः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• यत्: which
• यत्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक

• पापम्: sin
• पापम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन

• समुदाहृतम्: declared, stated
• समुदाहृतम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम् + उद् + आ + हृ (धातु) + क्त (प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; पापम् इति विशेषणम्

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन

• मे: to me / of me
• मे: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; एन्क्लिटिक

• स्यात्: would be
• स्यात्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• यदि: if
• यदि: Sambandha (Logical connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्तार्थक-अव्यय

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय

• हन्मि: I kill
• हन्मि: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• सर्पम्: a snake
• सर्पम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्प (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• दृष्टि-वशम्: under (my) gaze’s control
• दृष्टि-वशम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दृष्टि (प्रातिपदिक) + वश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; समासः—दृष्टेः वशः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• गतम्: gone, having come (into that state)
• गतम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गम् (धातु) + क्त (प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; सर्पम् इति विशेषणम्

Speaker

Unspecified narrator within Nāgara-khaṇḍa Tīrtha-māhātmya (deductively: Sūta relating a tale/dialogue)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The speaker renews the conditional self-curse, now invoking the sin of selling knowledge; the serpent remains the immediate object, but the moral spotlight shifts to the sanctity of learning and transmission.

Characters & Entities

• Sūta

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred learning is portrayed as a trust rather than a commodity; moral culpability is invoked through vow rhetoric.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not specified in this verse; it belongs to a chapter within a tīrtha-glorifying section.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this shloka.