Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

भजस्व स्वेच्छया विप्र दासी तेऽहं व्यवस्थिता

Transliteration

bhajasva svecchayā vipra dāsī te'haṃ vyavasthitā

Translation

โอ้พราหมณ์ผู้ประเสริฐ จงเสพสมตามปรารถนา; ข้าพเจ้าขอยืนอยู่ที่นี่เป็นทาสีของท่าน

Word by Word

• भजस्व: enjoy/accept/partake
• भजस्व: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भज् (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), मध्यम-पुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन, आत्मनेपद

• स्वेच्छया: according to (your) own wish
• स्वेच्छया: Karana (Instrument/Means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व + इच्छा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (स्वस्य इच्छा = one’s own will)

• विप्र: O brāhmaṇa
• विप्र: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

• दासी: female servant
• दासी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दासी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन

• ते: for you/to you
• ते: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: चतुर्थी-विभक्ति (Dative/4th), एकवचन

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन

• व्यवस्थिता: standing ready/appointed
• व्यवस्थिता: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि-अव-स्था (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘अहम्/दासी’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

Speaker

Māhī

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (frame implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Māhī stands close, posture of yielding—head slightly bowed, hands open in offering; she addresses the brāhmaṇa, declaring herself his handmaid and inviting him to enjoy as he wishes; tension between devotion-like surrender and erotic intent.

Characters & Entities

• Māhī
• Vipra (brāhmaṇa)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It highlights a moment of temptation and agency that, in Purāṇic storytelling, often precedes karmic entanglement and later recourse to tīrtha and penance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No site is named in this line; it belongs to the lead-up of the chapter’s tīrtha-oriented moral arc.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.