Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 5

Devanagari script

न्यायतोऽन्यायतो वापि करोति धनसंग्रहम् । स घातयति लोकांश्च निर्दोषान्पापकृत्तमः

Transliteration

nyāyato'nyāyato vāpi karoti dhanasaṃgraham | sa ghātayati lokāṃśca nirdoṣānpāpakṛttamaḥ

Translation

న్యాయమార్గమున గాని అన్యాయమార్గమున గాని అతడు ధనసంగ్రహం చేసెను; పాపకృత్తముడైన అతడు నిర్దోషులైన ప్రజలనూ హతమార్చించెను।

Word by Word

• nyāyataḥ: justly, by justice
• nyāyataḥ: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nyāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण/adverb): तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त (ablatival adverb)

• anyāyataḥ: unjustly, by injustice
• anyāyataḥ: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anyāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण/adverb): तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त (ablatival adverb)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय: विकल्पार्थक-निपात (disjunctive particle)

• api: even, also
• api: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय: समुच्चय/अपि-निपात (particle: even/also)

• karoti: does, makes
• karoti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular)

• dhana-saṃgraham: accumulation of wealth
• dhana-saṃgraham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhana (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃgraha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (धनस्य संग्रहः)

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन

• ghātayati: causes to be killed, kills
• ghātayati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ghaṭ/ghāt (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; णिच्-प्रत्ययान्त (causative)

• lokān: people, worlds (here: people)
• lokān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय: समुच्चयार्थक (conjunction)

• nirdoṣān: blameless, innocent
• nirdoṣān: Karma (Object-qualifier/कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nirdoṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; विशेषण (qualifying lokān)

• pāpa-kṛt-tamaḥ: the worst evil-doer
• pāpa-kṛt-tamaḥ: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + kṛt (कृदन्त, कृत्-प्रत्यय) + tama (प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; उपपद-तत्पुरुष (पापं करोति इति पापकृत्) + तमप्-प्रत्यय (superlative)

Speaker

Pulastya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Arbuda-kṣetra (narrative locus)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A grim procession: confiscated wealth piled high; bound innocents led away; the king’s face hardened—symbolizing anyāya-artha and nirdōṣa-vadha.

Characters & Entities

• Aprastuta (king)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Greed joined with injustice and violence is portrayed as extreme pāpa that inevitably demands karmic reckoning.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not directly; this verse intensifies the sinner-king’s profile before the tīrtha’s salvific teaching.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it critiques unjust accumulation and harm to the innocent.