Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 64

Devanagari script

अलक्तको यथा रक्तो नरः कामी तथैव च । हृतसारस्तथा सोऽपि पादमूले निपा त्यते

Transliteration

alaktako yathā rakto naraḥ kāmī tathaiva ca | hṛtasārastathā so'pi pādamūle nipā tyate

Translation

ดุจคนที่ทาด้วยยางรักจึงดูแดงฉาน ฉันใด ชายผู้ถูกกามครอบงำก็ถูกความใคร่ย้อมสีฉันนั้น; เมื่อแก่นสารภายในถูกช่วงชิง เขาย่อมล้มลง ณ โคนเท้าของกามนั้นเอง

Word by Word

• alaktakaḥ: lac-dye (alaktaka)
• alaktakaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: alaktaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-एकवचनम् (Nominative 1st), पुंलिङ्गम् (Masculine)

• yathā: as, just as
• yathā: Sambandha (Comparator/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमानार्थक-अव्ययम् (comparative indeclinable: ‘as/like’)

• raktaḥ: red
• raktaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: rakta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-एकवचनम् (Nominative 1st), पुंलिङ्गम् (Masculine); विशेषणम् (qualifying alaktakaḥ)

• naraḥ: a man
• naraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-एकवचनम् (Nominative 1st), पुंलिङ्गम् (Masculine)

• kāmī: lustful, desirous
• kāmī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kāmin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-एकवचनम् (Nominative 1st), पुंलिङ्गम् (Masculine); विशेषणम् (qualifying naraḥ)

• tathā: so, likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: तुल्यार्थक-अव्ययम् (correlative: ‘so/thus’)

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-अव्ययम् (emphatic particle)

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

• hṛta-sāraḥ: deprived of essence/strength
• hṛta-sāraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: hṛta (कृदन्त; √hṛ धातु, क्त) + sāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-एकवचनम् (Nominative 1st), पुंलिङ्गम् (Masculine); तत्पुरुष-समासः (कर्मधारय/षष्ठीभावः) ‘हृतः सारः यस्य’ (sense: whose essence is taken away)

• tathā: so, likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: तुल्यार्थक-अव्ययम् (correlative)

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-एकवचनम् (Nominative 1st), पुंलिङ्गम् (Masculine); सर्वनाम

• api: also, even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि-अव्ययम् (particle: ‘also/even’)

• pāda-mūle: at the foot/at the base of the feet
• pāda-mūle: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāda (प्रातिपदिक) + mūla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सप्तमी-एकवचनम् (Locative 7th), नपुंसकलिङ्गम् (Neuter); तत्पुरुष-समासः (षष्ठी) ‘पादस्य मूलम्’

• nipātyate: is made to fall, is cast down
• nipātyate: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni√pat (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकारः (Present), प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd person), एकवचनम् (Singular), आत्मनेपदम्; कर्मणि-प्रयोगः (Passive)

Speaker

Unspecified (Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrator voice; likely a Purāṇic teacher addressing a listener)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A man smeared with red lac appears ‘colored’; beside him, the same figure is shown internally hollowed—his ‘essence’ slipping away—falling at the feet of a personified Passion.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Desire ‘colors’ the mind and steals inner strength, leading to humiliation and spiritual fall; detachment is urged.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse functions as moral instruction within the Tīrthamāhātmya flow; no single tīrtha is explicitly named in the line itself.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is prescribed; it is a warning meant to support tīrtha practice with self-control.