Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 44

Devanagari script

दीप्तां दिशं समासाद्य रुरोद च तथा शिवा । तां दृष्ट्वा सुमहोत्पातान्वसिष्ठो मुनिपुंगवः

Transliteration

dīptāṃ diśaṃ samāsādya ruroda ca tathā śivā | tāṃ dṛṣṭvā sumahotpātānvasiṣṭho munipuṃgavaḥ

Translation

เมื่อเข้าไปใกล้ทิศที่ลุกโพลง ศิวาเทวีร่ำไห้กึกก้อง; ครั้นวสิษฐะผู้เป็นยอดมุนีเห็นมหาอุบัติการณ์นั้น ก็พลันตื่นรู้ระวัง

Word by Word

• दीप्ताम्: blazing
• दीप्ताम्: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दीप्त (प्रातिपदिक; √दीप् + त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (दिशम्)

• दिशम्: direction
• दिशम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिश् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• समासाद्य: having approached
• समासाद्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम् + आ + √सद् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund); ‘having approached/reached’

• रुरोद: cried/howled
• रुरोद: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √रुद् (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकारः (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्

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

• तथा: also/likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• शिवा: a jackal
• शिवा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिवा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; ‘शिवा’ = शृगाली (jackal)

• ताम्: that (omen/event)
• ताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; सर्वनाम-रूपम्

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• दृष्ट्वा: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: √दृश् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund); ‘having seen’

• सुमहोत्पातान्: very great portents
• सुमहोत्पातान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सु (उपसर्ग/पूर्वपद) + महा (प्रातिपदिक) + उत्पात (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्; समासः—कर्मधारयः (सुमहान्तः उत्पाताः)

• वसिष्ठः: Vasiṣṭha
• वसिष्ठः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसिष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• मुनिपुंगवः: foremost of sages
• मुनिपुंगवः: Apposition (Samānādhikaraṇa/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक) + पुंगव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (मुनीनां पुंगवः = among sages, the foremost)

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narrator; specific speaker not explicit in the snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vasiṣṭha-āśrama (as narrative locus)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A quarter of the sky burns with unnatural light; Śivā, envisioned as an auspicious goddess or as a sacred presence, cries out; Vasiṣṭha turns, eyes sharpened, reading the omen.

Characters & Entities

• Śivā
• Vasiṣṭha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even the divine signals distress when dharma is threatened; sages respond to signs with vigilance and spiritual power, not panic.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse sits within the Tīrthamāhātmya framework, but the precise tīrtha is not named in this line alone.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse narrates a portent and the sage’s recognition of it.