Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 52

Devanagari script

एष चाष्टादशो नाम कथितश्च निदाघकः । ज्वलितांगारसंकीर्णो दुःसेव्यः सर्वदेहिनाम्

Transliteration

eṣa cāṣṭādaśo nāma kathitaśca nidāghakaḥ | jvalitāṃgārasaṃkīrṇo duḥsevyaḥ sarvadehinām

Translation

یہ اٹھارہواں نرک بیان کیا گیا ہے، جس کا نام ‘نِداغھک’ ہے؛ یہ دہکتے انگاروں سے بھرا ہوا ہے اور تمام جسم داروں کے لیے ناقابلِ برداشت ہے۔

Word by Word

• eṣaḥ: this
• eṣaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

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

• aṣṭādaśaḥ: eighteenth
• aṣṭādaśaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭādaśan (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; संख्या-शब्दः विशेषणम् (‘eighteenth’)

• nāma: named
• nāma: Sambandha (Naming/संज्ञा)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nāma (अव्यय)
• Form: नामनिर्देशक-अव्यय

• kathitaḥ: is described
• kathitaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kath (कथ् धातु) → kathita (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: कृदन्तः (past passive participle/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘is said/told’

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

• nidāghakaḥ: (the hell) Nidāghaka
• nidāghakaḥ: Samānādhikaraṇa (Apposition/विशेष्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nidāghaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• jvalita-aṅgāra-saṃkīrṇaḥ: strewn with burning coals
• jvalita-aṅgāra-saṃkīrṇaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jvalita (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक) + aṅgāra (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃkīrṇa (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (‘with burning coals strewn about’)

• duḥ-sevyaḥ: hard to endure
• duḥ-sevyaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: duḥ (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + sevya (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (‘hard to endure/approach’)

• sarva-dehinām: of all embodied beings
• sarva-dehinām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + dehin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (‘of all embodied beings’)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Nidāghaka (Aṣṭādaśa-naraka)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A furnace-like landscape carpeted with glowing embers; waves of heat distort the air; beings recoil, unable to step without burning, while ember showers fall like sparks in a dark-red sky.

Characters & Entities

• Nidāghaka (name of a naraka)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sin leads to burning remorse and suffering; the text uses heat imagery to motivate self-restraint and purification.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is a descriptive entry in the naraka sequence.