Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

अथ तां कामदेवोपि समालोक्य शुभाननाम् । आत्मीयैरपि निर्विद्धो हृदये पुष्पसायकैः

Transliteration

atha tāṃ kāmadevopi samālokya śubhānanām | ātmīyairapi nirviddho hṛdaye puṣpasāyakaiḥ

Translation

แล้วกามเทพได้แลเห็นนางผู้มีพักตร์งาม; แม้ตนเองก็ถูกศรดอกไม้ของตนทิ่มแทงกลางหทัย

Word by Word

• atha: then
• atha: Sambandha (Discourse/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (discourse particle: then/now)

• tām: her
• tām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• kāmadevaḥ: Kāmadeva (Cupid)
• kāmadevaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāma + deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (कामः एव देवः), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• api: also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (also/even)

• samālokya: having seen
• samālokya: Pūrvakāla (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √lok (धातु) + sam-ā- (उपसर्ग) (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund): 'having looked at'

• śubha-ānanām: (her) of auspicious face
• śubha-ānanām: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śubha (प्रातिपदिक) + ānana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (शुभम् आननम् यस्याः), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying 'tām')

• ātmīyaiḥ: by his own
• ātmīyaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ātmīya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying 'puṣpasāyakaiḥ')

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (even)

• nirviddhaḥ: was pierced
• nirviddhaḥ: Karta (Subject-complement/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vyadh (धातु) + nir- (उपसर्ग) (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त/PPP), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि-भावः (pierced)

• hṛdaye: in (his) heart
• hṛdaye: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hṛdaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• puṣpa-sāyakaiḥ: by flower-arrows
• puṣpa-sāyakaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṣpa (प्रातिपदिक) + sāyaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (पुष्पाणि एव सायकाः), पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa in Nāgara-khaṇḍa narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāmeśvara-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Kāma beholds a beautiful-faced woman and is struck by his own flower-arrows; his posture shifts from confident to stunned, hand to chest, eyes widened.

Characters & Entities

• Kāmadeva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even the presiding force of desire is shown as vulnerable—suggesting that uncontrolled attraction can overpower any being and should be governed by dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The tīrtha context continues from the chapter’s setting, but this verse itself does not name the site.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual act is prescribed here; it advances the narrative motif of desire arising at the tīrtha setting.