Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 79

Devanagari script

अन्धकाय स वृत्तांतं कथयामास कृत्स्नशः । नैताः स्त्रियो दनुश्रेष्ठ युद्धार्थं समुपस्थिताः

Transliteration

andhakāya sa vṛttāṃtaṃ kathayāmāsa kṛtsnaśaḥ | naitāḥ striyo danuśreṣṭha yuddhārthaṃ samupasthitāḥ

Translation

ထို့နောက် သူသည် အန္ဓကအား အဖြစ်အပျက်အားလုံးကို ပြည့်စုံစွာ ပြောကြား၏—«ဒနုမျိုးရိုးအထွတ်အမြတ်ရေ၊ ဤသူတို့သည် စစ်ပွဲအတွက် ရောက်လာသော သာမန်မိန်းမများ မဟုတ်» ဟု။

Word by Word

• अन्धकाय: to Andhaka
• अन्धकाय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्धक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th), एकवचन — dative: “to Andhaka”

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन — “he” (Narada)

• वृत्तान्तम्: the account/news
• वृत्तान्तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृत्तान्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन — object

• कथयामास: told
• कथयामास: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कथय् (धातु, णिच्)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद — “told/related”

• कृत्स्नशः: completely
• कृत्स्नशः: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कृत्स्न (प्रातिपदिक) + शस् (अव्ययीभाव-प्रत्ययवत् अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb) — “entirely, in full”

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात (negation particle)

• एताः: these
• एताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन — “these (women)”

• स्त्रियः: women
• स्त्रियः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) (एताः इत्यस्य अप्पोजिशन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्त्री (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• दनुश्रेष्ठ: O best of Danus
• दनुश्रेष्ठ: Sambodhana (Vocative/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दनु (प्रातिपदिक) + श्रेष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः — “श्रेष्ठः दनूनाम्” (O best of Danus/Daityas)

• युद्धार्थम्: for battle
• युद्धार्थम्: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युद्ध (प्रातिपदिक) + अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; चतुर्थी/षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषार्थे प्रयुक्तः — “for the sake of battle” (purpose accusative)

• समुपस्थिताः: have come/present
• समुपस्थिताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) (स्त्रियः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम् + उप + स्था (धातु) + क्त (प्रत्यय) → समुपस्थित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्तः — “present/arrived”

Speaker

Unspecified narrator (context: a messenger/adviser addressing Andhaka)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Nārada stands before Andhaka, gesturing in explanation; Andhaka—regal yet tense—listens amid a camp or battlefield edge; behind them, fierce feminine figures are glimpsed, hinting they are not human.

Characters & Entities

• Andhaka
• Danu (lineage reference)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It cautions against mistaking divine śakti for ordinary worldly power; dharma requires discernment before conflict.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse functions within the Tīrthamāhātmya frame but does not name a specific tīrtha in this line; it sets up the sacred narrative context.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual is prescribed in this verse; it is a narrative warning and identification.