Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 81

Devanagari script

ततः कृच्छ्रात्प्रतिज्ञातं मयाश्रमनिषेवणम् । वानप्रस्थोद्भवं वा स्यात्ततोऽहं तत्र संस्थितः

Transliteration

tataḥ kṛcchrātpratijñātaṃ mayāśramaniṣevaṇam | vānaprasthodbhavaṃ vā syāttato'haṃ tatra saṃsthitaḥ

Translation

แล้วต่อมา ด้วยความยากลำบาก ข้าพเจ้าปฏิญาณจะปฏิบัติวินัยแห่งอาศรม อาจเป็นวิถีวานปรस्थะคือผู้พำนักป่า; ดังนั้นข้าพเจ้าจึงตั้งมั่นอยู่ในพรตนั้น

Word by Word

• ततः: then/from that
• ततः: Modifier (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• कृच्छ्रात्: from hardship/with difficulty
• कृच्छ्रात्: Apadana/Hetu (Ablative/Cause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृच्छ्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन; हेतौ/अपादाने—‘from hardship/with difficulty’

• प्रतिज्ञातम्: was promised/undertaken
• प्रतिज्ञातम्: Karma/Bhava (Object/Impersonal predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + ज्ञा (धातु) → प्रतिज्ञात (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• मया: by me
• मया: Kartr (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन

• आश्रमनिषेवणम्: service/observance of the āśrama (life-stage)
• आश्रमनिषेवणम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आश्रम + निषेवण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (determinative: ‘service/attendance of an āśrama’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• वानप्रस्थोद्भवम्: arising from the vānaprastha stage
• वानप्रस्थोद्भवम्: Modifier (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वानप्रस्थ + उद्भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (determinative: ‘arising from vānaprastha’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘आश्रमनिषेवणम्’ इत्यस्य विशेषण

• वा: or
• वा: Modifier (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक निपात (disjunctive particle)

• स्यात्: may be/would be
• स्यात्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

• ततः: then
• ततः: Modifier (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

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

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• संस्थितः: stood/was stationed
• संस्थितः: Karta (Predicate participle/कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + स्था (धातु) → संस्थित (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past active participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

Speaker

Male narrator within the episode (first-person account)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A renunciant-like figure takes a hard vow to live by āśrama discipline, possibly as a vānaprastha, and remains stationed in that observance within a forest hermitage.

Characters & Entities

• Āśrama
• Vānaprastha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma is embodied through deliberate vows and sustained āśrama-discipline, even when difficult.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader adhyāya context is the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra tīrthamāhātmya, within which this vow is narrated.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A vow to follow āśrama-niṣevaṇa (especially vānaprastha-style discipline) is mentioned, but without procedural details.