Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 62

Devanagari script

तस्मात्त्यज त्वं मां देव यद्वा तत्तीर्थमुत्तमम् । यत्प्रभावाज्जनैर्हीनाः संजाता नरका मम

Transliteration

tasmāttyaja tvaṃ māṃ deva yadvā tattīrthamuttamam | yatprabhāvājjanairhīnāḥ saṃjātā narakā mama

Translation

“پس اے دیوتا! یا تو مجھے ترک فرما دیجیے، یا اس اعلیٰ تیرتھ کو ہٹا دیجیے؛ کیونکہ اس کے اثر سے میرے نرک لوگوں سے خالی ہو گئے ہیں۔”

Word by Word

• tasmāt: therefore, from that
• tasmāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पञ्चमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; हेत्वर्थे (ablative of cause)

• tyaja: abandon
• tyaja: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: tyaj (त्यज्) (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), मध्यम-पुरुष (2nd), एकवचन

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (युष्मद्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• deva: O god
• deva: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• yad-vā: or else
• yad-vā: Sambandha (Discourse connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yad (अव्यय/निपात-प्रयोग) + vā (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात-समुच्चयः; विकल्पार्थक (alternative) — ‘or else’

• tat-tīrtham: that sacred place
• tat-tīrtham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः — ‘तत् तीर्थम्’ (that very tīrtha)

• uttamam: supreme, excellent
• uttamam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• yat-prabhāvāt: because of whose power
• yat-prabhāvāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + prabhāva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पञ्चमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः — ‘यस्य प्रभावः’

• janaiḥ: by people
• janaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• hīnāḥ: deprived, bereft
• hīnāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: hīna (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; विशेषणम् — ‘वर्जिताः/रहिताः’

• saṃjātāḥ: have become
• saṃjātāḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-jan (जन्) (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्तः क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (Past Passive Participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन — ‘have arisen/come to be’

• narakāḥ: hells
• narakāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• mama: my
• mama: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

Yama

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Sārasvata Mahātīrtha (implied)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Deva/Vibhu (divine authority overseeing cosmic order; contextually linked to Pitāmaha in subsequent verse)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Yama, distressed, appeals to the deity: ‘remove me or remove that tīrtha’; behind him, empty naraka realms—silent furnaces, vacant pits—symbolizing ‘janaiḥ hīnāḥ’.

Characters & Entities

• Yama
• Naraka

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The grace of a great tīrtha can overturn harsh karmic consequences, emphasizing pilgrimage and sacred acts as paths of redemption.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A supreme Nāgarakhaṇḍa tīrtha (linked in this chapter to the Sārasvata-hrada and Citraśilā tradition).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, tīrtha-sevā (pilgrimage acts) that purify; the specific rites are detailed in nearby verses (snāna, sparśa, pūjā).