Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 69

Devanagari script

मर्त्यलोके सुरश्रेष्ठ नष्टा धर्मक्रिया भृशम् । कामासक्तो यतो लोकस्तांबूलस्य च भक्षणात् । तस्मात्कुरु प्रसादं नो येनास्माकं क्रिया भवेत्

Transliteration

martyaloke suraśreṣṭha naṣṭā dharmakriyā bhṛśam | kāmāsakto yato lokastāṃbūlasya ca bhakṣaṇāt | tasmātkuru prasādaṃ no yenāsmākaṃ kriyā bhavet

Translation

‘హే దేవశ్రేష్ఠా! మర్త్యలోకంలో ధర్మక్రియలు బాగా నశించాయి; తాంబూలం నమలడం వల్ల ప్రజలు కామాసక్తులయ్యారు. కాబట్టి మాపై ప్రసన్నుడవై, మా యథోచిత క్రియలు మరియు అర్పణలు మళ్లీ జరిగేలా చేయుము.’

Word by Word

• martyaloke: in the mortal world
• martyaloke: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: martya + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (मर्त्यानां लोकः)

• suraśreṣṭha: O best of gods
• suraśreṣṭha: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura + śreṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-प्रथमा (Vocative), एकवचन; संबोधन

• naṣṭāḥ: destroyed
• naṣṭāḥ: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (Predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √naś (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (PPP), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषण

• dharmakriyāḥ: religious rites
• dharmakriyāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharma + kriyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः

• bhṛśam: greatly; completely
• bhṛśam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: bhṛśam (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय (adverb)

• kāmāsaktaḥ: attached to desire
• kāmāsaktaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kāma + āsakta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (PPP) ‘आसक्त’; तत्पुरुषः (कामे आसक्तः)

• yataḥ: because; since
• yataḥ: Hetu (Cause marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatas (अव्यय)
• Form: हेतु-अव्यय (causal relative adverb: because/wherefrom)

• lokaḥ: the people/world
• lokaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• tāṃbūlasya: of betel (tāmbūla)
• tāṃbūlasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāṃbūla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• bhakṣaṇāt: from eating; due to consumption
• bhakṣaṇāt: Apādāna (Cause/Source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhakṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; हेतौ (cause)

• tasmāt: therefore
• tasmāt: Hetu (Inference marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tasmāt (अव्यय/तद्-प्रातिपदिकात्)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः; हेत्वर्थे ‘therefore’

• kuru: do; grant
• kuru: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• prasādam: favor; grace
• prasādam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prasāda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• naḥ: to us
• naḥ: Sampradāna (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी/चतुर्थी-एकवचन/बहुवचन-रूप (enclitic); अत्र चतुर्थी-बहुवचनार्थे (to us)

• yena: by which
• yena: Karaṇa/Hetu (Means/Cause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; साधन/हेतु (by which)

• asmākam: of us
• asmākam: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• kriyā: rite; religious act
• kriyā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kriyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• bhavet: may be; may occur
• bhavet: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ्-लकार (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Devagaṇas (the gods), addressing Pitāmaha (Brahmā)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pārthiva (king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Devas addressing Brahmā with folded hands, describing the human world’s fall; a symbolic vignette shows people chewing tāmbūla while yajña fires die out.

Characters & Entities

• martyaloka
• tāmbūla
• Pitāmaha
• Brahmā
• devas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Addiction to pleasure (kāma) erodes dharma and disrupts the yajña-based harmony between humans and devas.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is highlighted in this line; it frames a moral-cosmic problem within the Mahātmya narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Restoration of dharmakriyā—especially yajña-related rites and offerings—is implied as the needed remedy.