Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 50

Devanagari script

तथा सप्तदशश्चायं क्षाराख्यो नरकः स्मृतः । सुक्षारेण समाकीर्णः सर्वप्राणिभयावहः

Transliteration

tathā saptadaśaścāyaṃ kṣārākhyo narakaḥ smṛtaḥ | sukṣāreṇa samākīrṇaḥ sarvaprāṇibhayāvahaḥ

Translation

तसेच हा सतरावा नरक ‘क्षार’ या नावाने स्मृत आहे; तीक्ष्ण, दाहक क्षाराने तो भरलेला असून सर्व प्राण्यांना भयावह आहे।

Word by Word

• tathā: likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; ‘likewise’

• saptadaśaḥ: seventeenth
• saptadaśaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: saptadaśan (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; संख्या-शब्दः विशेषणम् (‘seventeenth’)

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

• ayam: this
• ayam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• kṣāra-ākhyaḥ: named ‘Kṣāra’
• kṣāra-ākhyaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṣāra (प्रातिपदिक) + ākhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (क्षार इति आख्या यस्य)

• narakaḥ: hell
• narakaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• smṛtaḥ: is called/said to be
• smṛtaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √smṛ (स्मृ धातु) → smṛta (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: कृदन्तः (past passive participle/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘is said/remembered as’

• su-kṣāreṇa: with strong alkali
• su-kṣāreṇa: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: su (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + kṣāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग (द्रव्यवाचक), तृतीया, एकवचन; उपसर्गयुक्त (‘with strong alkali’)

• samākīrṇaḥ: is filled
• samākīrṇaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ā-√kṝ (कॄ धातु) → samākīrṇa (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: कृदन्तः (past passive participle/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘strewn/filled’

• sarva-prāṇi-bhaya-āvahaḥ: bringing fear to all beings
• sarva-prāṇi-bhaya-āvahaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + prāṇin (प्रातिपदिक) + bhaya (प्रातिपदिक) + āvaha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (सर्वेषां प्राणिनां भयम् आवहति)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kṣāra (Saptadaśa-naraka)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: dvija-sattama (addressed Brahmin interlocutor)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A white-gray expanse of sharp, glittering alkali crystals; tormented beings stumble as the ground burns and cuts, with heat haze rising; the scene is stark, almost salt-desert-like but infernal.

Characters & Entities

• Kṣāra (name of a naraka)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Purāṇa portrays the bitter, corrosive fruit of sin through vivid imagery, urging purification through dharmic living.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific sacred site is named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is descriptive rather than prescriptive.