Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 11

Devanagari script

दृश्यते चैव यत्रैव सस्यं वापि कथंचन । ह्रियते लज्जया हीनैस्तत्र क्षुत्क्षामकैर्नरैः

Transliteration

dṛśyate caiva yatraiva sasyaṃ vāpi kathaṃcana | hriyate lajjayā hīnaistatra kṣutkṣāmakairnaraiḥ

Translation

ที่ใดแลเห็นพืชธัญญาหารแม้เพียงน้อย ที่นั่นคนทั้งหลายผู้ซูบผอมด้วยความหิว ไร้ความละอาย ก็พากันฉวยเอาไป

Word by Word

• dṛśyate: is seen/appears
• dṛśyate: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), कर्मणि-प्रयोगः (Passive), प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd person), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्ययम् (conjunction)

• eva: indeed/just
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चय/अवधारण-अव्ययम् (emphatic particle)

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्ययम् (locative adverb: where)

• eva: indeed/just
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-अव्ययम् (emphatic particle)

• sasyam: crop/grain
• sasyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sasya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गम् (Neuter), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc.), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Alternative/विकल्प)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प-अव्ययम् (disjunctive particle: or)

• api: also/even
• api: Sambandha (Addition/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि-अव्ययम् (also/even)

• kathaṃcana: somehow/at all
• kathaṃcana: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kathaṃ + cana (अव्यय)
• Form: रीतिवाचक-अव्ययम् (adverb: somehow/in any way)

• hriyate: is taken away/is carried off
• hriyate: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: hṛ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), कर्मणि-प्रयोगः (Passive), प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd person), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• lajjayā: by shame
• lajjayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lajjā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गम् (Feminine), तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• hīnaiḥ: by those devoid (of)
• hīnaiḥ: Karta (Agent in passive/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: hīna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गम् (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचनम् (Plural)

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

• kṣutkṣāmakaiḥ: by hunger-emaciated
• kṣutkṣāmakaiḥ: Karta (Agent in passive/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṣut + kṣāmaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गम् (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचनम् (Plural); समासः—कर्मधारयः (kṣut-kṣāmaka: hunger-emaciated)

• naraiḥ: by men
• naraiḥ: Karta (Agent in passive/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गम् (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचनम् (Plural)

Speaker

Sūta (continuing narration)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A parched landscape with withered fields; gaunt men stealthily cutting and carrying the last standing grain, eyes hollow, shame erased by hunger.

Characters & Entities

• Sasya (grain/crop)
• Kṣut (hunger)
• Lajjā (shame)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Hunger can strip away social restraint; Purāṇic tīrtha narratives contrast such decline with the purifying, stabilizing power of dharma and sacred places.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not identified in this verse; it continues the crisis narrative that frames the later establishment/glory of the Saptarṣi-tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is descriptive, illustrating the moral consequences of famine.