Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 37

Devanagari script

एतस्मिन्नंतरे नष्टो धर्मः पत्नीसमुद्भवः । पुरुषाणां ततः स्त्रीणां निजकांतासमुद्भवः

Transliteration

etasminnaṃtare naṣṭo dharmaḥ patnīsamudbhavaḥ | puruṣāṇāṃ tataḥ strīṇāṃ nijakāṃtāsamudbhavaḥ

Translation

ഇതിനിടയിൽ ഭാര്യാനിഷ്ഠയിൽ നിന്നുയർന്ന ധർമ്മം നശിച്ചു; അതുപോലെ പുരുഷന്മാരിലും സ്ത്രീകളിലും തങ്ങളുടെ സ്വന്തം പ്രിയകാന്തയോടുള്ള ഏകനിഷ്ഠധർമ്മവും ലുപ്തമായി।

Word by Word

• एतस्मिन्: in this
• एतस्मिन्: Adhikaraṇa (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे/पुंलिङ्गे, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम् (Locative singular)

• अन्तरे: in the interval/meanwhile
• अन्तरे: Adhikaraṇa (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्तर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; कालवाचक (Locative singular)

• नष्टः: lost, destroyed
• नष्टः: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नश् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; भूतकृदन्तः (क्त), ‘destroyed/lost’ (Past passive participle)

• धर्मः: dharma, righteousness
• धर्मः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम् (Nominative singular)

• पत्नीसमुद्भवः: arising from (one’s) wife
• पत्नीसमुद्भवः: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पत्नी + समुद्भव (प्रातिपदिक; सम् + उद् + भू (धातु) + घञ्/अच्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; तत्पुरुषः (पत्नीसमुद्भवः = पत्नी-सम्बन्धात् उद्भवः) विशेषणम् (Nominative singular)

• पुरुषाणाम्: of men
• पुरुषाणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, षष्ठी-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम् (Genitive plural)

• ततः: thereafter
• ततः: Adhikaraṇa (Temporal/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रमवाचक (thereafter/then)

• स्त्रीणाम्: of women
• स्त्रीणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्त्री (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, षष्ठी-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम् (Genitive plural)

• निजकान्तासमुद्भवः: arising from one’s own beloved (wife)
• निजकान्तासमुद्भवः: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निजकान्ता + समुद्भव (प्रातिपदिक; सम् + उद् + भू (धातु) + घञ्/अच्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; तत्पुरुषः (निजकान्तायाः समुद्भवः) विशेषणम् (Nominative singular)

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Rudraśīrṣa (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A somber tableau: households in discord, couples separated, dharma personified as fading; in the distance, the Śiva shrine stands as a silent witness.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The verse laments a collapse of conjugal dharma, contrasting social decline with the continuing power of sacred places.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader passage continues the Rudraśīrṣa-tīrtha context, though this verse itself focuses on social dharma.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual is prescribed here; it is a moral observation about dharma’s decline.