Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 53

Devanagari script

ततो जघान विप्रेन्द्रान्राक्षसं भावमाश्रितः । यज्ञान्विध्वंसयामास मुनीनामाश्रमानपि

Transliteration

tato jaghāna viprendrānrākṣasaṃ bhāvamāśritaḥ | yajñānvidhvaṃsayāmāsa munīnāmāśramānapi

Translation

پھر راکشسی خُو اختیار کر کے اس نے برہمنوں کے سرداروں کو قتل کیا۔ اس نے یگیہ (قربانیوں) کو برباد کیا اور رشیوں کے آشرموں کو بھی ویران کر ڈالا۔

Word by Word

• ततः: then/thereupon
• ततः: Kala (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• जघान: slew/killed
• जघान: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद

• विप्रेन्द्रान्: chief brahmins
• विप्रेन्द्रान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र (प्रातिपदिक) + इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• राक्षसम्: demonic
• राक्षसम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: राक्षस (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), एकवचन (Singular); (भावम् इति विशेषण)

• भावम्: state/nature
• भावम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भाव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• आश्रितः: having resorted to/assumed
• आश्रितः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रि (धातु) उपसर्ग: आ + क्त (कृदन्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (Past Active Participle/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative, 1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• यज्ञान्: sacrifices
• यज्ञान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• विध्वंसयामास: destroyed/caused to be destroyed
• विध्वंसयामास: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ध्वंस् (धातु) उपसर्ग: वि; (णिच्) ध्वंसय + आमास (सहायक-क्रिया)
• Form: लिट् (Periphrastic Perfect/परस्मैपद), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular); causative sense (णिच्)

• मुनीनाम्: of sages
• मुनीनाम्: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), षष्ठी (Genitive, 6th), बहुवचन (Plural)

• आश्रमान्: hermitages
• आश्रमान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आश्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• अपि: also/even
• अपि: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle; inclusion/emphasis)

Speaker

Sūta (implied continuation of narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The rakṣasa-king rampages: brāhmaṇa elders struck down, sacrificial fires scattered, altars broken, sages’ hermitages destroyed—an image of dharma’s infrastructure collapsing.

Characters & Entities

• vipra (brāhmaṇa)
• muni (sage)
• yajña (sacrifice)
• āśrama (hermitage)
• rākṣasa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Attacking sages and disrupting yajña is portrayed as grave adharma; dharma upholds sacred learning, worship, and protected spaces.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it supplies moral background within the chapter’s tīrtha-mahātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse does not prescribe a rite; it condemns the destruction of yajña and āśrama as anti-dharmic.