Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

कुरुक्षेत्रं समुद्दिश्य प्रतस्थे स ततः परम् । सुश्रांतः क्षुत्पिपासार्तो मार्गपृच्छापरायणः

Transliteration

kurukṣetraṃ samuddiśya pratasthe sa tataḥ param | suśrāṃtaḥ kṣutpipāsārto mārgapṛcchāparāyaṇaḥ

Translation

பின்னர் அவன் குருக்ஷேத்திரத்தை நோக்கி புறப்பட்டான். மிகுந்த சோர்வுடன், பசி தாகத்தால் வாடி, வழி கேட்டு கேட்டு முன்னே சென்றான்.

Word by Word

• kuru-kṣetram: Kurukṣetra
• kuru-kṣetram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kuru (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; तत्पुरुष-समासः (‘कुरूणां क्षेत्रम्’)

• samuddiśya: having aimed at / intending
• samuddiśya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ud-√diś (दिश्) (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund)

• pratasthe: set out
• pratasthe: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√sthā (स्था) (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; सर्वनाम

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb) ‘thereafter’

• param: further
• param: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् क्रियाविशेषण (adverbial accusative) ‘further/onward’

• su-śrāntaḥ: very weary
• su-śrāntaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su (अव्यय/उपसर्गवत्) + śrānta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √śram (श्रम्))
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; भूतकृदन्त ‘श्रान्त’; अव्ययीभाव ‘सु+श्रान्त’ = ‘very tired’

• kṣut-pipāsā-ārtaḥ: afflicted by hunger and thirst
• kṣut-pipāsā-ārtaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṣut (प्रातिपदिक) + pipāsā (प्रातिपदिक) + ārta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √ar/√ṛ (ऋ) ‘to be afflicted’)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; द्वन्द्व-समासः (क्षुत् च पिपासा च) + ‘आर्त’ (afflicted)

• mārga-pṛcchā-parāyaṇaḥ: intent on asking the way
• mārga-pṛcchā-parāyaṇaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mārga (प्रातिपदिक) + pṛcchā (प्रातिपदिक) + parāyaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; तत्पुरुष-समासः (‘मार्गस्य पृच्छायां परायणः’ = ‘devoted to asking the way’)

Speaker

Narrator (within Sūta's narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kurukṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A lone royal traveler on dusty roads toward Kurukṣetra, visibly exhausted, parched, stopping to ask villagers for directions; distant sacred plain with flags and hermitage groves hinted on horizon.

Characters & Entities

• Kurukṣetra
• Triśaṅku (contextual traveler)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A tīrtha-journey often involves hardship; endurance and purposeful movement toward sacred space is itself a dharmic discipline.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kurukṣetra is explicitly named as the sacred destination.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None stated; the verse emphasizes pilgrimage travel rather than a specific rite.