Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

प्रकरोषि प्रयत्नेन त्यक्त्वान्याः सकलाः क्रियाः । स्नानदानादिका याश्च निर्दिष्टाः शास्त्रचिंतकैः

Transliteration

prakaroṣi prayatnena tyaktvānyāḥ sakalāḥ kriyāḥ | snānadānādikā yāśca nirdiṣṭāḥ śāstraciṃtakaiḥ

Translation

“تم اسے بڑی کوشش سے انجام دیتے ہو، دوسری سب رسمیں چھوڑ کر—حتیٰ کہ غسل، دان اور ایسی دیگر باتیں بھی جو شاستر کے اہلِ فکر نے مقرر کی ہیں۔”

Word by Word

• prakaroṣi: you perform/do
• prakaroṣi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष (2nd), एकवचन

• prayatnena: with effort
• prayatnena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prayatna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• tyaktvā: having abandoned
• tyaktvā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √tyaj (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund); अव्ययभाव; अर्थः—त्यजित्वा (having abandoned)

• anyāḥ: other
• anyāḥ: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन; विशेषण (kriyāḥ इत्यस्य)

• sakalāḥ: all
• sakalāḥ: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sakala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन; विशेषण (kriyāḥ इत्यस्य)

• kriyāḥ: rites/activities
• kriyāḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kriyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन

• snāna-dāna-ādikāḥ: such as bathing, giving, etc.
• snāna-dāna-ādikāḥ: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: snāna (प्रातिपदिक) + dāna (प्रातिपदिक) + ādika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; समाहार-द्वन्द्व/समुच्चयार्थक (स्नानं दानं च इत्यादि) विशेषण (yāḥ इत्यस्य)

• yāḥ: which
• yāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धक-सर्वनाम

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक

• nirdiṣṭāḥ: prescribed
• nirdiṣṭāḥ: Karta (Predicate/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: nir-√diś (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मणि—'prescribed/indicated'

• śāstra-ciṃtakaiḥ: by the thinkers on scripture
• śāstra-ciṃtakaiḥ: Karana (Agent in passive/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śāstraciṃtaka (प्रातिपदिक) = śāstra + ciṃtaka
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (शास्त्रं चिन्तयन्ति इति)

Speaker

Munīśvaras / assembled sages (addressing the king)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Purāṇa audience; internally, sages continue addressing the king

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sages remark on the king’s strenuous commitment: he abandons other rites and performs the vigil with full effort; imagery of renunciation amid royal life.

Characters & Entities

• Snāna
• Dāna
• Śāstra-ciṃtakas
• King

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Single-pointed devotion can become the highest practice when performed with sincerity and effort at the right sacred locus.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The same deity’s presence at the Mahākāla-associated tīrtha where the vigil is kept.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The focused observance of rātrijāgara, even to the extent of setting aside other prescribed rites like snāna and dāna for that occasion.