Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 28

Devanagari script

नारी गर्भं समाधत्ते हायनैकादशेन हि । एकादश्युपवासस्य विरताः सर्वतो जनाः

Transliteration

nārī garbhaṃ samādhatte hāyanaikādaśena hi | ekādaśyupavāsasya viratāḥ sarvato janāḥ

Translation

कलियुगात स्त्री अकराव्या वर्षीही गर्भ धारण करील; आणि सर्वत्र लोक एकादशी-उपवासव्रतापासून विरत होतील।

Word by Word

• नारी: a woman
• नारी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नारी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• गर्भम्: embryo, pregnancy
• गर्भम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गर्भ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• समाधत्ते: conceives; places/establishes (in the womb)
• समाधत्ते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: धा (धातु) + सम्-उपसर्ग
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), आत्मनेपद

• हायनैकादशेन: by (after) eleven years
• हायनैकादशेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हायन + एकादश (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: समासः (तत्पुरुषः: हायनस्य एकादश = 11 years); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन (Singular)

• हि: indeed, for
• हि: Sambandha/Emphasis (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), अव्यय

• एकादशी-उपवासस्य: of the Ekādaśī fast
• एकादशी-उपवासस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एकादशी (प्रातिपदिक) + उपवास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः (तत्पुरुषः: एकादश्याः उपवासः); पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), एकवचन (Singular)

• विरताः: refraining; abstinent
• विरताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विरत (कृदन्त; वि-√रम्)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

• सर्वतः: everywhere; on all sides
• सर्वतः: Adverbial (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सर्वतः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• जनाः: people
• जनाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

Speaker

Unspecified (contextual narrator within Dharmāraṇya-khaṇḍa describing Kali-yuga traits)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A king (rājan) implied by nearby address in the passage

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic courtly scene: a sage narrates Kali-yuga signs to a king; in the background, a calendar-marked Ekādaśī day is ignored by townsfolk, symbolizing lapse of vrata.

Characters & Entities

• Ekādaśī
• Kali-yuga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It warns that Kali-yuga is marked by early sensuality and the weakening of vrata-dharma, especially the discipline of Ekādaśī.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as a Kali-yuga diagnostic within the Dharmāraṇya narrative frame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Ekādaśī-upavāsa (fasting/observance on the eleventh lunar day) is referenced—here as a practice people abandon.