Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 85

Devanagari script

तारकोऽपि दुराचारो निष्कामोऽद्य भविष्यति । विनाकामेन च कथं पापमाचरते नरः

Transliteration

tārako'pi durācāro niṣkāmo'dya bhaviṣyati | vinākāmena ca kathaṃ pāpamācarate naraḥ

Translation

แม้ทารกะผู้ประพฤติชั่ว ก็จักเป็นผู้ไร้กามในวันนี้; เมื่อไร้ความปรารถนาแล้ว มนุษย์จะก่อบาปได้อย่างไร

Word by Word

• tārakaḥ: Tāraka (the demon)
• tārakaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

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

• durācāraḥ: evil-doer, of bad conduct
• durācāraḥ: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (कर्तृसमानााधिकरण/Predicate nominative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dur- + ācāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (दुर्+आचारः = 'bad conduct')

• niṣkāmaḥ: desireless
• niṣkāmaḥ: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nis- + kāma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण; तत्पुरुष (निः+कामः = 'desireless')

• adya: today, now
• adya: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of time: 'today/now')

• bhaviṣyati: will become
• bhaviṣyati: Kriyā (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (Simple Future), प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद

• vinā: without
• vinā: Apādāna (अपादान/without)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vinā (अव्यय)
• Form: उपसर्गसदृश-अव्यय/अपादानार्थक (preposition-like indeclinable: 'without', governs तृतीया)

• kāmena: by desire; with desire
• kāmena: Karaṇa (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन

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

• katham: how
• katham: Prashna (प्रश्न/Interrogative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb 'how')

• pāpam: sin, evil deed
• pāpam: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन

• ācarate: practises, commits
• ācarate: Kriyā (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√car (चर् धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd), एकवचन, आत्मनेपद

• naraḥ: a man
• naraḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

Śiva (Śaṃbhu/Mahādeva) (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kedāra/Kedāranātha

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis/Devas (contextual audience)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic moment in Kedāra: the speaker points to the transformation of even a wicked being (Tāraka) through the extinguishing of desire; sages and devas listen amid Himalayan austerity.

Characters & Entities

• Tāraka (asura)
• Kāma (desire)
• Sin (pāpa)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Desire is presented as the psychological root of sinful action; reducing desire reduces the impulse toward wrongdoing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The setting is Kedārakhaṇḍa (Kedara sacred region), though this verse focuses on ethical causality rather than site-glorification.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; it implies the practice of cultivating niṣkāmatā (desirelessness).