Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

यस्मात्त्वया कुटुम्बं मे नाशं नीतं द्विजिह्वके । दर्शितं च महद्दुःखं मम बन्धुजनोद्भवम्

Transliteration

yasmāttvayā kuṭumbaṃ me nāśaṃ nītaṃ dvijihvake | darśitaṃ ca mahadduḥkhaṃ mama bandhujanodbhavam

Translation

“โอ้พญางูสองลิ้น! เพราะเจ้าได้นำครอบครัวของข้าไปสู่ความพินาศ และทำให้ข้าได้ประจักษ์ทุกข์ใหญ่ที่เกิดจากญาติพี่น้องของข้าเอง”

Word by Word

• यस्मात्: because (of which/that)
• यस्मात्: Hetu (हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सम्बन्ध-अव्यय (relative adverbial form), हेत्वर्थे ‘यस्मात्’ = because/from which reason

• त्वया: by you
• त्वया: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/स्त्री (सर्वनाम), तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), एकवचन

• कुटुम्बम्: family
• कुटुम्बम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुटुम्ब (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन

• मे: my
• मे: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), एकवचन; एन्क्लिटिक रूप

• नाशम्: destruction
• नाशम्: Gati/Karma (कर्म-गति)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन

• नीतम्: brought/led (to)
• नीतम्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नी (धातु)
• Form: कर्मणि क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (Past Passive Participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; अत्र ‘कुटुम्बम्’ इति कर्मणः सह (has been led/brought)

• द्विजिह्वके: O two-tongued one (snake)
• द्विजिह्वके: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्वि + जिह्वक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय (द्वे जिह्वे यस्य = द्विजिह्वकः), पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

• दर्शितम्: shown/caused to be seen
• दर्शितम्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: कर्मणि क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (Past Passive Participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; ‘दुःखम्’ इति कर्मणः विशेषण

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• महत्: great
• महत्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन; ‘दुःखम्’ इति विशेषण

• दुःखम्: sorrow
• दुःखम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन

• मम: of me, my
• मम: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), एकवचन

• बन्धुजनोद्भवम्: arising from (loss of) relatives/kinsmen
• बन्धुजनोद्भवम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बन्धुजन + उद्भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (बन्धुजनात् उद्भवम्), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन; ‘दुःखम्’ इति विशेषण

Speaker

Unnamed brahmin woman/kinswoman (contextual; addressing a serpent, ‘dvijihvaka’)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Close confrontation: the bereaved woman points or addresses the serpent-woman, her face wet with tears yet blazing with indignation; the nāgī recoils or stands defiant.

Characters & Entities

• Revatī (implied in the episode)
• Nāga (serpent)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Harm done to others—especially to families—returns as intense suffering; pāpa ripens into duḥkha through karmic causality.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse is part of the Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya sequence; the immediate line focuses on the moral narrative rather than naming a tīrtha in this shloka.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is stated in this verse.