Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 50

Devanagari script

मया सतीवियोगार्तियुक्तेन सुरसत्तम । लिंगमेतत्परित्यक्तं शापव्याजाद्द्विजन्मनाम्

Transliteration

mayā satīviyogārtiyuktena surasattama | liṃgametatparityaktaṃ śāpavyājāddvijanmanām

Translation

اے دیوتاؤں میں سب سے برتر! ستی کی جدائی کے کرب میں مبتلا ہو کر میں نے یہ لِنگ ترک کر دیا—دو بار جنم لینے والوں کے دیے ہوئے شاپ کے بہانے سے۔

Word by Word

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Kartr (Agent in passive sense/कर्तृ)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• satī-viyoga-ārti-yuktena: by one afflicted with the pain of separation from Satī
• satī-viyoga-ārti-yuktena: Karana (Instrumental qualifier/करण-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: satī (प्रातिपदिक) + viyoga (प्रातिपदिक) + ārti (प्रातिपदिक) + yukta (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; विशेषण (to mayā); तत्पुरुष-श्रृङ्खला (satīyāḥ viyogaḥ → viyoga-ārti; tayā yuktaḥ)

• surasattama: O best of the gods
• surasattama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura (प्रातिपदिक) + sattama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (surāṇāṃ sattamaḥ)

• liṅgam: the liṅga
• liṅgam: Karma (Object in passive/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: liṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम-विशेषण, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण (to liṅgam)

• parityaktam: was abandoned, was left
• parityaktam: Kriya (Predicate in passive/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari + √tyaj (त्यज् धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे (past passive participle)

• śāpa-vyājāt: because of the pretext of a curse
• śāpa-vyājāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + vyāja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (śāpasya vyājaḥ)

• dvijanmanām: of the twice-born (Brahmins)
• dvijanmanām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvijanman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

Speaker

Śiva (Devadeva/Vṛṣabhadhvaja)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devas (addressed as surasattama in singular honorific)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva speaks in confession: sorrow-stricken from Satī’s separation, he abandoned the liṅga; a ‘curse’ by brāhmaṇas is mentioned as a narrative pretext—suggesting sages with raised hands, yet the deeper cause is viraha.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Satī
• Brāhmaṇāḥ (Dvijanman)
• Liṅga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even divine narratives acknowledge grief; yet dharma is upheld through restoration—turning sorrow into renewed sacred order.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage serves as an origin-story (etiology) for a Liṅga-centered tīrtha within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription; it sets the theological background for why Liṅga-pūjā and protection of the sacred emblem are meritorious.