Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 54

Devanagari script

ततः क्षुत्क्षामकण्ठोऽहं स्नात्वाऽत्र सलिले शुभे । मृतश्च संनिविष्टोहं क्षुधया परिपीडितः

Transliteration

tataḥ kṣutkṣāmakaṇṭho'haṃ snātvā'tra salile śubhe | mṛtaśca saṃniviṣṭohaṃ kṣudhayā paripīḍitaḥ

Translation

ต่อมา ลำคอของข้าพเจ้าแห้งผากเพราะความหิว ข้าพเจ้าได้อาบน้ำ ณ ที่นี้ในสายน้ำอันเป็นมงคล ครั้นถูกความหิวทรมาน ข้าพเจ้าก็สิ้นชีวิตและล้มลง ณ ที่นั้น

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण)

• kṣut-kṣāma-kaṇṭhaḥ: with throat emaciated by hunger
• kṣut-kṣāma-kaṇṭhaḥ: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṣut (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣāma (प्रातिपदिक) + kaṇṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समासः (उपपद/षष्ठीभावः) ‘क्षुत्-क्षामः कण्ठः यस्य’ इति अर्थे; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (of aham)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; प्रथमा, एकवचन

• snātvā: having bathed
• snātvā: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: snā (धातु) + ktvā (क्त्वा)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive) = having bathed

• atra: here
• atra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atra (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक)

• salile: in the water
• salile: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: salila (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th case), एकवचन; अधिकरण (location)

• śubhe: auspicious
• śubhe: Adhikarana (Location-qualifier/अधिकरण-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śubha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (of salile)

• mṛtaḥ: died
• mṛtaḥ: Karta (Predicate/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: mṛ (धातु) + kta (क्त) → mṛta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (PPP); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; क्रियापदवत्—‘मृतः’ = died

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

• saṃniviṣṭaḥ: lay down, became settled
• saṃniviṣṭaḥ: Karta (Predicate/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ni-√viś (विश्, धातु) + kta (क्त) → saṃniviṣṭa (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (PPP); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; क्रियापदवत्—‘संनिविष्टः’ = lay/settled (down)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; प्रथमा, एकवचन

• kṣudhayā: by hunger
• kṣudhayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣudhā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; करण/हेतु (by/through hunger)

• paripīḍitaḥ: tormented, afflicted
• paripīḍitaḥ: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pari-√pīḍ (पीड्, धातु) + kta (क्त) → paripīḍita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (PPP); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (of aham)

Speaker

Unspecified (same repentant former king speaking)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: viprendra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A frail, starving pilgrim with parched throat steps into bright, sanctified water; his body collapses on the bank/shallows, conveying both suffering and sanctity; the water glows subtly as if charged with merit.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Contact with a tīrtha—especially bathing with sincere inner turning—can become spiritually decisive even at life’s end.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The local “auspicious water” (salila śubha) of the tīrtha at this spot; the chapter context supplies the precise name of the site.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (ritual bathing) in the auspicious water is explicitly mentioned.