Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 62

Devanagari script

तस्मात्त्यज त्वं मां देव यद्वा तत्तीर्थमुत्तमम् । यत्प्रभावाज्जनैर्हीनाः संजाता नरका मम

Transliteration

tasmāttyaja tvaṃ māṃ deva yadvā tattīrthamuttamam | yatprabhāvājjanairhīnāḥ saṃjātā narakā mama

Translation

അതുകൊണ്ട്, ഹേ ദേവാ! എന്നെ ഉപേക്ഷിക്കുകയോ, അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ആ ഉത്തമ തീർത്ഥം നീക്കുകയോ ചെയ്യുക; അതിന്റെ പ്രഭാവത്താൽ എന്റെ നരകങ്ങൾ ജനശൂന്യമായിരിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• tasmāt: therefore, from that
• tasmāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पञ्चमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; हेत्वर्थे (ablative of cause)

• tyaja: abandon
• tyaja: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: tyaj (त्यज्) (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), मध्यम-पुरुष (2nd), एकवचन

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (युष्मद्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• deva: O god
• deva: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• yad-vā: or else
• yad-vā: Sambandha (Discourse connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yad (अव्यय/निपात-प्रयोग) + vā (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात-समुच्चयः; विकल्पार्थक (alternative) — ‘or else’

• tat-tīrtham: that sacred place
• tat-tīrtham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः — ‘तत् तीर्थम्’ (that very tīrtha)

• uttamam: supreme, excellent
• uttamam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• yat-prabhāvāt: because of whose power
• yat-prabhāvāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + prabhāva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पञ्चमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः — ‘यस्य प्रभावः’

• janaiḥ: by people
• janaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• hīnāḥ: deprived, bereft
• hīnāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: hīna (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; विशेषणम् — ‘वर्जिताः/रहिताः’

• saṃjātāḥ: have become
• saṃjātāḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-jan (जन्) (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्तः क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (Past Passive Participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन — ‘have arisen/come to be’

• narakāḥ: hells
• narakāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• mama: my
• mama: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

Yama

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Sārasvata Mahātīrtha (implied)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Deva/Vibhu (divine authority overseeing cosmic order; contextually linked to Pitāmaha in subsequent verse)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Yama, distressed, appeals to the deity: ‘remove me or remove that tīrtha’; behind him, empty naraka realms—silent furnaces, vacant pits—symbolizing ‘janaiḥ hīnāḥ’.

Characters & Entities

• Yama
• Naraka

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The grace of a great tīrtha can overturn harsh karmic consequences, emphasizing pilgrimage and sacred acts as paths of redemption.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A supreme Nāgarakhaṇḍa tīrtha (linked in this chapter to the Sārasvata-hrada and Citraśilā tradition).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, tīrtha-sevā (pilgrimage acts) that purify; the specific rites are detailed in nearby verses (snāna, sparśa, pūjā).