Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 37

Devanagari script

अपि शत्रुं वधस्यार्हं मा वधीः शरणागतम् । अप्यपात्रं सुपात्रं वा नीचो वापि महत्तमः

Transliteration

api śatruṃ vadhasyārhaṃ mā vadhīḥ śaraṇāgatam | apyapātraṃ supātraṃ vā nīco vāpi mahattamaḥ

Translation

ရန်သူသည် သတ်သင့်သူဖြစ်စေကာမူ၊ ခိုလှုံရန်လာသူကို မသတ်လော့—မထိုက်တန်သူဖြစ်စေ ထိုက်တန်သူဖြစ်စေ၊ နိမ့်သူဖြစ်စေ မြင့်မြတ်သူဖြစ်စေ။

Word by Word

• अपि: even if
• अपि: Samuccaya (Concessive inclusion/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्भावना/समुच्चय-अव्यय (even/also)

• शत्रुम्: an enemy
• शत्रुम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत्रु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• वधस्य: of killing; for killing
• वधस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), एकवचन (Singular)

• अर्हम्: deserving
• अर्हम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अर्ह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• मा: do not
• मा: Pratishedha (Prohibition/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: मा (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-निपात (prohibitive particle)

• वधीः: kill
• वधीः: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वध् (धातु)
• Form: लुङ्-लकार (Aorist), मध्यम-पुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद; 'मा' सह निषेध

• शरणागतम्: one who has sought refuge
• शरणागतम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शरण (प्रातिपदिक) + आगत (कृदन्त; √गम्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular); द्वितीया-तत्पुरुष (to refuge + come)

• अपि: even if
• अपि: Samuccaya (Inclusion/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्भावना/समुच्चय-अव्यय (also/even)

• अपात्रम्: an unworthy person
• अपात्रम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अ (नञ्) + पात्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• सुपात्रम्: a worthy person
• सुपात्रम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सु (उपसर्ग/उपपद) + पात्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• वा: or
• वा: Vikalpa (Alternative/विकल्प)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प-अव्यय (disjunctive particle)

• नीचः: low/base (person)
• नीचः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नीच (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• वा: or
• वा: Vikalpa (Alternative/विकल्प)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प-अव्यय (disjunctive particle)

• अपि: even
• अपि: Samuccaya (Inclusion/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्भावना/समुच्चय-अव्यय (also/even)

• महत्तमः: the greatest
• महत्तमः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); तमप्-प्रत्यय (superlative)

Speaker

Unspecified (didactic instruction within Brahmottarakhaṇḍa; speaker not stated in the snippet)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A battlefield edge or royal court: a defeated enemy drops weapons and kneels with folded hands; the victor raises an ‘abhaya’ hand, restraining soldiers; dharma-banner and a calm guru/minister figure endorsing the decision.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śaraṇāgati is sacred: one who seeks refuge must be protected, regardless of status or prior enmity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is mentioned; the verse teaches a universal dharma principle.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual is stated; it is an ethical injunction emphasizing protection of the surrendered.