Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 29

Devanagari script

दण्डो यमस्य तावन्नो यावच्छापो द्विजोद्भवः । अग्निना ज्वाल्यते दृश्यं शापोद्दिष्टानपि स्वयम्

Transliteration

daṇḍo yamasya tāvanno yāvacchāpo dvijodbhavaḥ | agninā jvālyate dṛśyaṃ śāpoddiṣṭānapi svayam

Translation

యముని దండం అంత (తక్షణ) కాదు; బ్రాహ్మణుని నుండి పుట్టిన శాపమే బలమైనది. అది అగ్నిలా జ్వలించి, శాపం సూచించిన వారినికూడా స్వయంగా దహిస్తుంది అని కనిపిస్తుంది.

Word by Word

• daṇḍaḥ: punishment, rod
• daṇḍaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: daṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन

• yamasya: of Yama
• yamasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), एकवचन

• tāvat: so much, only that long
• tāvat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययवत्)
• Form: अव्यय (quantifier/adverbial)

• naḥ: of us, our
• naḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उभयलिङ्ग (pronoun), षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), बहुवचन; enclitic

• yāvat: as long as
• yāvat: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययवत्)
• Form: अव्यय (correlative adverb: ‘as long as/so long as’)

• śāpaḥ: curse
• śāpaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन

• dvijodbhavaḥ: born from a Brahmin (twice-born)
• dvijodbhavaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक) + udbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘द्विजस्य उद्भवः’)

• agninā: by fire
• agninā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: agni (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), एकवचन

• jvālyate: is burned, is kindled
• jvālyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jval (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), कर्मणि-प्रयोग (Passive), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन

• dṛśyam: visible, evidently
• dṛśyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dṛśya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Nom/Acc), एकवचन; क्रियाविशेषणवत् (as predicate)

• śāpoddiṣṭān: those pointed out/targeted by the curse
• śāpoddiṣṭān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + uddiṣṭa (कृदन्त; √diś, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘शापेन उद्दिष्टाः’/‘शापस्य उद्दिष्टाः’)

• api: even, also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle: ‘also/even’)

• svayam: by itself, on its own
• svayam: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svayam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (reflexive adverb: ‘by oneself’)

Speaker

Unspecified (didactic warning within Tīrthamāhātmya; emphasizes brāhmaṇa-śāpa as a dharmic force)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A dramatic allegory: Yama with daṇḍa stands distant and shadowed, while a bright, living flame labeled as ‘dvija-śāpa’ leaps forward toward a trembling offender; the flame extends to figures merely indicated by a pointing gesture, showing the curse’s autonomous spread.

Characters & Entities

• Yama

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Disrespecting dharma’s custodians invites swift karmic consequence; moral-spiritual transgression is portrayed as self-igniting punishment.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No location is named in the verse; it functions as a general admonition within the tīrtha narrative setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is prescribed; the implied discipline is restraint and reverence toward brāhmaṇas and dharma.