Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 39
क्लान्ता वैक्लव्यमापन्ना भाराक्रान्ता पतिव्रता । निद्रान्धा निश्वसन्ती च प्रस्खलन्ती पदेपदे
klāntā vaiklavyamāpannā bhārākrāntā pativratā | nidrāndhā niśvasantī ca praskhalantī padepade
وہ تھکی ہوئی، کمزوری سے مغلوب اور بوجھ سے دبی ہوئی پتिवرتا، اونگھ سے گویا اندھی ہو گئی؛ ہانپتی ہوئی ہر قدم پر ٹھوکر کھاتی چلی جاتی تھی۔
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa in Mahātmya-style narration)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (approach)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage audience (not specified)
Scene: A weary pativratā woman at night, bent under a heavy burden, eyes half-closed with drowsiness, breath visible in the cool air, stumbling repeatedly along a dim path toward the sacred precinct.
FAQs
Steadfast dharma is shown through endurance—devotion persists even when the body fails.
The context continues toward Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra, where the ensuing encounter becomes spiritually significant.
None; the verse emphasizes the austerity-like hardship of travel as part of the sacred journey.