Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

दस्युकर्मरताः सर्वे पितृभक्तिविवर्जिताः । स्वगोत्रदाराभिरता लौल्यध्यानपरायणाः

Transliteration

dasyukarmaratāḥ sarve pitṛbhaktivivarjitāḥ | svagotradārābhiratā laulyadhyānaparāyaṇāḥ

Translation

ชนทั้งปวงจักหมกมุ่นในวิถีโจรผู้ร้าย ปราศจากความกตัญญูบูชาบรรพชน; หลงติดสตรีในโคตรตน และจมอยู่ในความคิดที่ถูกความโลภอันแปรปรวนครอบงำ

Word by Word

• दस्यु-कर्म-रताः: engaged in the deeds of robbers
• दस्यु-कर्म-रताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दस्यु (प्रातिपदिक) + कर्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + रत (√रम् धातु, क्त-प्रत्यय; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः (Nominative), बहुवचनम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (दस्युकर्मणि रताः)

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (सर्वनाम/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्; विशेषणम्

• पितृ-भक्ति-विवर्जिताः: devoid of devotion to ancestors
• पितृ-भक्ति-विवर्जिताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक) + भक्ति (प्रातिपदिक) + विवर्जित (वि+√वृज्/√वर्ज् धातु, क्त; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (पितृभक्त्या विवर्जिताः)

• स्व-गोत्र-दार-अभिरताः: attached to women of their own clan
• स्व-गोत्र-दार-अभिरताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्व (प्रातिपदिक) + गोत्र (प्रातिपदिक) + दार (प्रातिपदिक) + अभिरत (अभि+√रम् धातु, क्त; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (स्वगोत्रदारेषु अभिरताः)

• लौल्य-ध्यान-परायणाः: devoted to fickle/greedy contemplation
• लौल्य-ध्यान-परायणाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लौल्यम् (प्रातिपदिक) + ध्यान (प्रातिपदिक) + परायण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (लौल्यध्यानं परायणं येषाम्/लौल्यध्यानपराः)

Speaker

Sūta (deduced for Brāhma Khaṇḍa narration style; exact speaker not in snippet)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A darkened village street in Kali-yuga: men with furtive eyes hoarding coins, a neglected ancestral altar with cold lamps, and a lone dharmic figure turning away from greed toward a distant temple silhouette.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kali-yuga is marked by loss of pitṛ-dharma and dominance of greed; dharma is protected by reverence, restraint, and right conduct.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as a Kali-yuga diagnostic within the Dharmāraṇya context.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Indirectly, it upholds pitṛ-bhakti—implying śrāddha/tarpaṇa and ancestral reverence—by lamenting their abandonment.