Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

धिग्धिक्पापसमाचार जिह्वा ते शतधा ततः । किं न याति यदेवं त्वं प्रजल्पसि विगर्हितम्

Transliteration

dhigdhikpāpasamācāra jihvā te śatadhā tataḥ | kiṃ na yāti yadevaṃ tvaṃ prajalpasi vigarhitam

Translation

ชิชะ! ชิชะ! แกผู้มีความประพฤติบาป ขอให้ลิ้นของเจ้าฉีกออกเป็นร้อยส่วนในบัดดล เหตุไฉนมันไม่หลุดร่วงไป เมื่อเจ้ากล่าววาจาอันน่าติเตียนเช่นนี้

Word by Word

• dhik: shame!
• dhik: Sambandha (Exclamation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: dhik (अव्यय)
• Form: निन्दार्थक अव्यय (interjection of censure)

• dhik: shame!
• dhik: Sambandha (Exclamation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: dhik (अव्यय)
• Form: निन्दार्थक अव्यय (repetition for emphasis)

• pāpa-samācāra: O evil-doer / of sinful conduct
• pāpa-samācāra: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + samācāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय समास (‘पापः समाचारः’), पुल्लिङ्ग (masculine), एकवचन (singular), सम्बोधन विभक्ति (Vocative)

• jihvā: tongue
• jihvā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jihvā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), एकवचन (singular), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative, 1st)

• te: your
• te: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), एकवचन (singular), षष्ठी विभक्ति (Genitive, 6th)

• śatadhā: into a hundred pieces
• śatadhā: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: śatadhā (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण अव्यय (adverb: ‘into a hundred parts’)

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Temporal/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: ‘then/thereupon’)

• kim: why? / what?
• kim: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रश्नवाचक सर्वनाम (interrogative pronoun), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), एकवचन (singular), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative, 1st)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय (negation particle)

• yāti: goes
• yāti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yā (धातु)
• Form: लट् लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपद

• yat: since / that
• yat: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय-रूपेण (indeclinable relative: ‘since/that’)

• evam: thus, in this way
• evam: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रकारवाचक अव्यय (adverb of manner)

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), एकवचन (singular), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative, 1st)

• prajalpasi: babble / speak forth
• prajalpasi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√jalp (धातु)
• Form: लट् लकार (Present), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपद

• vigarhitam: what is blameworthy
• vigarhitam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vigarhita (कृदन्त; vi-√garh)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past participle used substantively), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), एकवचन (singular), द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative, 2nd)

Speaker

Brāhmaṇas (dvijottamāḥ)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A lead brāhmaṇa points accusingly, face fierce; the condemned man recoils. The curse imagery is visceral—tongue splitting—shown symbolically as a jagged red lightning motif near the mouth rather than gore.

Characters & Entities

• dvijottamāḥ (implied speakers)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Speech is a karmic act; censurable words are treated as adharma and invite severe moral condemnation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as ethical rebuke within the larger tīrtha-narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse is a reprimand that leads into prāyaścitta reasoning.