Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 88

Devanagari script

ततः सुप्तां परित्यज्य तां भार्यां शिशुसंयुताम् । गतोऽहं दूरमध्वानं यत्र नो वेत्ति सा च माम्

Transliteration

tataḥ suptāṃ parityajya tāṃ bhāryāṃ śiśusaṃyutām | gato'haṃ dūramadhvānaṃ yatra no vetti sā ca mām

Translation

แล้วข้าพเจ้าละทิ้งภรรยาผู้หลับอยู่พร้อมบุตรน้อย และออกเดินทางไกล—ไปยังสถานที่ที่นางจะไม่รู้ข่าวของข้าพเจ้า และข้าพเจ้าก็ไม่รู้ข่าวของนาง

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) = ‘then’

• suptām: sleeping
• suptām: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: supta (कृदन्त; √svap धातु, क्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण = ‘sleeping’ (qualifying bhāryām)

• parityajya: having left
• parityajya: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: pari+√tyaj (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive), अव्ययभाव = ‘having abandoned/left’

• tām: her
• tām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन = ‘her/that (woman)’

• bhāryām: wife
• bhāryām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāryā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/accusative), एकवचन = ‘wife’

• śiśu-saṃyutām: with a child
• śiśu-saṃyutām: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śiśu (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃyuta (कृदन्त; sam+√yuj, क्त)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (सह/युक्तार्थ), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण = ‘accompanied by a child’ (qualifying bhāryām)

• gataḥ: went; having gone
• gataḥ: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gata (कृदन्त; √gam धातु, क्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन = ‘gone’ (predicate with aham)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन = ‘I’

• dūram-adhvānam: a long journey
• dūram-adhvānam: Karma (Goal/extent as object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dūra (प्रातिपदिक) + adhvan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास, पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/accusative), एकवचन = ‘a long road/journey’

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikarana (Place/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (सम्बन्ध/स्थानवाचक) = relative adverb ‘where’

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निषेध)

• vetti: knows
• vetti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vid (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन = ‘knows’

• sā: she
• sā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन = ‘she’

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय)

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, द्वितीया (2nd/accusative), एकवचन = ‘me’

Speaker

Unnamed narrator (first-person voice within the Adhyāya); framed later by Sūta’s narration in this section

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Night or pre-dawn: a wife sleeps with a child; the narrator quietly departs, stepping onto a long road into darkness, determined to go where neither will know the other.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Renunciation is portrayed as a decisive break from worldly attachment, undertaken for a higher spiritual aim.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No named tīrtha appears in this verse; it narrates the impetus for wandering that often culminates in tīrtha-sevā in the broader section.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse is narrative, describing departure rather than a rite.