Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 136

Devanagari script

माता मे सह तेनैव प्रविष्टा हव्यवाहनम् । ततो वैराग्यमापन्नो निष्क्रांतोऽहं निजालयात्

Transliteration

mātā me saha tenaiva praviṣṭā havyavāhanam | tato vairāgyamāpanno niṣkrāṃto'haṃ nijālayāt

Translation

Minha mãe, juntamente com ele, entrou no fogo. Depois disso, tomado pelo desapego (vairāgya), parti da minha própria casa.

Word by Word

• mātā: mother
• mātā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mātṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• me: my
• me: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; षष्ठी, एकवचन

• saha: with
• saha: Sahakāraka (Accompaniment/सह)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: saha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (preposition-like indeclinable): with; सह + तृतीया अपेक्षा

• tena: with him
• tena: Sahakāraka (Companion/सह)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• eva: indeed
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle): indeed/only

• praviṣṭā: entered
• praviṣṭā: Karta (Predicate complement/कर्ता-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √viś विश् (धातु) + प्र + क्त (क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (past participle/क्त); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; 'entered'

• havyavāhanam: the fire (carrier of oblations)
• havyavāhanam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: havya (प्रातिपदिक) + vāhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास: हव्यं वहति इति (fire); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb): thereafter

• vairāgyam: dispassion
• vairāgyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vairāgya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• āpannaḥ: having attained
• āpannaḥ: Karta (Predicate complement/कर्ता-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √āp आप् (धातु) + क्त
• Form: कृदन्त (past participle/क्त); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• niṣkrāntaḥ: went out
• niṣkrāntaḥ: Karta (Predicate complement/कर्ता-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kram क्रम् (धातु) + nis + क्त
• Form: कृदन्त (past participle/क्त); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; 'gone out'

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; प्रथमा, एकवचन

• nija-ālayāt: from (my) own house
• nija-ālayāt: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nija (प्रातिपदिक) + ālaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारयसमास: निजः आलयः; पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन

Speaker

Unspecified pilgrim/ascetic (narrating his life to a king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A funeral pyre with controlled flames; the mother steps into the fire beside the deceased, while the young boy stands at a distance, eyes lowered, clutching a staff or water-pot—his face turning from grief to resolve as he walks away from the house.

Characters & Entities

• Agni (Havyavāhana)
• Mother

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Worldly loss can awaken vairāgya (dispassion), turning one toward a dharmic life of pilgrimage and spiritual seeking.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse sets the renunciant’s backstory; the explicit tīrtha focus emerges immediately after, culminating in Prabhāsa-kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; it describes a life-transition into renunciation that frames later tīrtha-oriented practice.