Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 2

Devanagari script

रक्तकांतिर्महातेजाः षण्मुखोऽद्भुत विक्रमः । क्वचिद्गायति चात्यर्थं क्वचिन्नृत्यति स्वेच्छया

Transliteration

raktakāṃtirmahātejāḥ ṣaṇmukho'dbhuta vikramaḥ | kvacidgāyati cātyarthaṃ kvacinnṛtyati svecchayā

Translation

နီရောင်တောက်ပ၍ မဟာတေဇာရှိသော မျက်နှာခြောက်ပါး ကုမာရ (စကန္ဒ) သည် အံ့ဖွယ်သတ္တိရှိ၏။ တခါတရံ အလွန်ပျော်ရွှင်စွာ သီချင်းဆိုပြီး တခါတရံ မိမိစိတ်တိုင်းကျ လွတ်လပ်စွာ ကပြ၏။

Word by Word

• रक्तकान्तिः: having red radiance
• रक्तकान्तिः: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रक्त (प्रातिपदिक) + कान्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास (रक्ता कान्तिः यस्य/या)

• महातेजाः: of great splendor
• महातेजाः: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक) + तेजस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास (महत् तेजः यस्य)

• षण्मुखः: Ṣaṇmukha (six-faced one)
• षण्मुखः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: षट् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + मुख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (षण्णि मुखानि यस्य)

• अद्भुतविक्रमः: of wondrous valor
• अद्भुतविक्रमः: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अद्भुत (प्रातिपदिक) + विक्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास (अद्भुतः विक्रमः यस्य)

• क्वचित्: sometimes
• क्वचित्: Adhikarana (Adverbial locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्वचित् (अव्यय)
• Form: काल/देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: sometimes)

• गायति: sings
• गायति: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गै (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-निपात (conjunction)

• अत्यर्थम्: excessively, very much
• अत्यर्थम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अत्यर्थम् (अव्यय)
• Form: परिमाण/तीव्रतावाचक-अव्यय (adverb: exceedingly)

• क्वचित्: sometimes
• क्वचित्: Adhikarana (Adverbial locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्वचित् (अव्यय)
• Form: काल/देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: sometimes)

• नृत्यति: dances
• नृत्यति: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नृत् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• स्वेच्छया: by his own will
• स्वेच्छया: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व (प्रातिपदिक) + इच्छा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (स्वस्य इच्छा)

Speaker

Brahmā

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Six-faced Kārttikeya, ruddy and brilliant, alternates between singing and dancing; dynamic posture, flowing ornaments, perhaps a peacock nearby; onlookers are delighted and awed.

Characters & Entities

• Kārtikeya (Ṣaṇmukha/Skanda)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine qualities (tejas, vikrama) coexist with playful līlā, encouraging both reverence and loving devotion.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The immediate verse is descriptive; the broader frame remains the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it depicts Kārtikeya’s divine characteristics and spontaneous līlā.