Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 77

Devanagari script

प्रजानां रंजनाद्राजा येयं रूढिरुपार्जिता । तस्यां रूढ्यां प्रनष्टायां राज्यमेव विनंक्ष्यति

Transliteration

prajānāṃ raṃjanādrājā yeyaṃ rūḍhirupārjitā | tasyāṃ rūḍhyāṃ pranaṣṭāyāṃ rājyameva vinaṃkṣyati

Translation

ပြည်သူတို့ကို ပျော်ရွှင်စေ၍ ထိန်းသိမ်းစောင့်ရှောက်သဖြင့် “ရာဇာ” ဟု ခေါ်ကြသည်—ဤသည်ပင် တည်မြဲလာသော အဓိပ္ပါယ်ဖြစ်သည်။ ထိုအဓိပ္ပါယ်နှင့် ချိတ်ဆက်မှု ပျက်သွားလျှင် နိုင်ငံတော်တင်ပင် ပျက်စီးသွားသည်။

Word by Word

• प्रजानाम्: of the subjects
• प्रजानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध (genitive)

• रंजनात्: from pleasing/delighting
• रंजनात्: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रञ्जन (प्रातिपदिक; √रञ्ज् (धातु) + ल्युट्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन; अपादान (ablative: from/through)

• राजा: a king
• राजा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• या: which
• या: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक (relative pronoun)

• इयम्: this
• इयम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; निर्देश (demonstrative pronoun)

• रूढिः: convention/accepted usage
• रूढिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रूढि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• उपार्जिता: acquired/established
• उपार्जिता: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उपार्जित (कृदन्त; उप-√अर्ज् (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP) विशेषण

• तस्याम्: when/where that (convention)
• तस्याम्: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरण

• रूढ्याम्: in the convention
• रूढ्याम्: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रूढि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरण

• प्रनष्टायाम्: having perished/being lost
• प्रनष्टायाम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रनष्ट (कृदन्त; प्र-√नश् (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP) विशेषण

• राज्यम्: the kingdom
• राज्यम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राज्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्तृवत् (subject)

• एव: indeed/alone
• एव: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक अव्यय (restrictive particle)

• विनंक्ष्यति: will perish
• विनंक्ष्यति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-√नश् (धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (Simple Future), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; रूपम्: विनङ्क्ष्यति/विनंक्ष्यति (अनुस्वार-लेखनभेद)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A split-scene: on one side, the king distributing justice and gifts, citizens smiling; on the other, the bond frays—citizens distressed, the palace dimming—showing the kingdom’s fate tied to prajā-rañjana.

Characters & Entities

• Prajā (subjects)
• Rājā (king)
• Rājya (kingdom)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A ruler’s dharma is to bring well-being and contentment to the people; without that, sovereignty collapses.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is named; the teaching appears in the Kāśī Khaṇḍa’s broader sacred setting of Kashi.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a doctrinal definition and warning regarding rāja-dharma.