Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 61

Devanagari script

परार्थेऽपि च ये ब्रूयुस्तेषां गात्राणि कृत्स्नशः । अष्टमासिकदानेन तेषां मुक्तिः प्रजायते

Transliteration

parārthe'pi ca ye brūyusteṣāṃ gātrāṇi kṛtsnaśaḥ | aṣṭamāsikadānena teṣāṃ muktiḥ prajāyate

Translation

แม้ผู้ใดกล่าวเท็จเพื่อประโยชน์ของผู้อื่น อวัยวะทั้งปวงของเขาย่อมถูกความทุกข์ครอบงำโดยสิ้นเชิง ด้วยทานแปดเดือน (อัษฏมาสิกทาน) ความหลุดพ้นของเขาย่อมบังเกิด

Word by Word

• पर-अर्थे: in another’s matter; for others
• पर-अर्थे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक) + artha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘परस्य अर्थे’ = for another’s sake/matter)

• अपि: also; even
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात/particle): ‘also/even’

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक/conjunction)

• ये: those who
• ये: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• ब्रूयुः: speak; would speak
• ब्रूयुः: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: brū (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन

• गात्राणि: limbs; bodies
• गात्राणि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gātra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• कृत्स्नशः: entirely
• कृत्स्नशः: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kṛtsnaśas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण/adverb): ‘सम्पूर्णतया/entirely’

• अष्ट-मासिक-दानेन: by an eight-month donation/vow-gift
• अष्ट-मासिक-दानेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṣṭa (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + māsika (प्रातिपदिक) + dāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; समासः (अष्टमासिकं दानम्) तत्पुरुष/कर्मधारयभावः; करणत्वे प्रयोगः

• तेषाम्: for them; of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन

• मुक्तिः: liberation; release
• मुक्तिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mukti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• प्रजायते: arises; is obtained
• प्रजायते: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra + jan (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपद; प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative style)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A moral tableau: a person speaking a lie on behalf of another; their body shown as afflicted/darkened; a parallel scene of sustained monthly offerings over eight months culminating in lightness/liberation.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Falsehood remains harmful even when justified as ‘for someone else’; dharma prioritizes truth, while prescribed charity offers a path of purification.

Which specific holy site (Tīrtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it supports the chapter’s broader tīrtha-centered dharma teaching.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Aṣṭamāsika-dāna—an eight-monthly charitable observance—is given as the means to obtain mukti (release) from the consequence described.