Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 27

Devanagari script

बहुपादा विपादाश्च एकपादास्तथापराः । तथान्याश्चार्धपादाश्च अधोवक्त्रा विभीषणाः

Transliteration

bahupādā vipādāśca ekapādāstathāparāḥ | tathānyāścārdhapādāśca adhovaktrā vibhīṣaṇāḥ

Translation

บางพวกมีเท้ามากมาย บางพวกมีสองเท้า และบางพวกมีเพียงเท้าเดียว บางพวกมีเพียงครึ่งเท้า และบางพวกน่าสะพรึง—ใบหน้าหันลงเบื้องล่าง

Word by Word

• बहुपादाः: many-footed (fem. pl.)
• बहुपादाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु (प्रातिपदिक) + पाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—"बहवः पादाः यस्याः" (having many feet)

• विपादाः: two-footed
• विपादाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि (उपसर्ग) + पाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषण (irregular/poetic form for 'two-footed')

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

• एकपादाः: one-footed
• एकपादाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक (प्रातिपदिक) + पाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—"एकः पादः यस्याः" (one-footed)

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, प्रकारवाचक (adverb: 'thus/likewise')

• अपराः: others
• अपराः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अपर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषण (others)

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, प्रकारवाचक

• अन्याः: others
• अन्याः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषण (other)

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

• अर्धपादाः: half-footed
• अर्धपादाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अर्ध (प्रातिपदिक) + पाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—"अर्धः पादः यस्याः" (half-footed)

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

• अधोवक्त्राः: downward-faced
• अधोवक्त्राः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधस् (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक) + वक्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—"अधः वक्त्रं यस्याः" (having face downward)

• विभीषणाः: terrifying
• विभीषणाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विभीषण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषण (terrifying)

Speaker

Unspecified (narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya; likely Sūta)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A procession-like vision of grotesque, otherworldly beings: some many-footed, some two-footed, some one-footed, some half-footed; some with faces turned downward, looming at the edge of a sacred landscape, suggesting a liminal boundary near a tīrtha.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It dramatizes spiritual testing: the pilgrim must keep discernment and devotion even amid frightening sights.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The immediate verse does not state the tīrtha name; it sits within the broader Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit prescription is present.