Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 13

Devanagari script

तस्मादद्यापि पापैषा वध्यतामाशु कन्यका । निर्यास्यतां पुरादस्माद्यावन्न स्यात्पुरक्षयः

Transliteration

tasmādadyāpi pāpaiṣā vadhyatāmāśu kanyakā | niryāsyatāṃ purādasmādyāvanna syātpurakṣayaḥ

Translation

ดังนั้น แม้ในวันนี้ จงประหารชีวิตหญิงสาวผู้มีบาปนี้เสียโดยพลัน จงขับไล่นางออกจากเมืองนี้ทันที มิฉะนั้นเมืองจะถึงกาลวิบัติ

Word by Word

• tasmāt: therefore / from that
• tasmāt: Hetu/Apādāna (Cause/Source/हेतु/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्गे पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• adya: today
• adya: Sambandha (Temporal/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: काल-अव्यय (temporal adverb)

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

• pāpā: sinful
• pāpā: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pāpā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषण

• eṣā: this (woman)
• eṣā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• vadhyatām: let (her) be killed
• vadhyatām: Kriya (Predicate action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vadhya (प्रातिपदिक) / vadha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive): ‘let her be killed’

• āśu: quickly
• āśu: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: āśu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• kanyakā: the girl
• kanyakā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kanyakā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• niryāsyatām: let (her) be expelled
• niryāsyatām: Kriya (Predicate action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: nir + yā (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive): ‘let her be driven out’

• purāt: from the city
• purāt: Apādāna (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pura (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन

• asmāt: from this
• asmāt: Apādāna (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्गे पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• yāvat: until
• yāvat: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conjunction: ‘until/as long as’)

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

• syāt: would be / should occur
• syāt: Kriya (Predicate action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• pura-kṣayaḥ: destruction of the city
• pura-kṣayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pura + kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (purasya kṣayaḥ); पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

Speaker

Citizens/people (public outcry within the narrative)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and sages (frame implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A crowd at the city gate or assembly orders the maiden’s death or expulsion; guards and citizens gesture toward the gate; the maiden stands calm yet sorrowful.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It portrays how fear of collective misfortune can lead society to harsh judgment, setting the stage for later teaching on karma, repentance, and the purifying power of a tīrtha.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse itself does not name the tīrtha, but it belongs to the Tīrthamāhātmya context of Nāgara Khaṇḍa, Adhyāya 62, where the sanctity of a particular kṣetra is unfolded in subsequent verses.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; it is a narrative command (expulsion/punishment), not a ritual injunction.