Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 42

Devanagari script

अहं शतसहस्रं ते यच्छाम्यस्याः कृते द्विज । धेनूनामपरं वित्तं यावन्मात्रं प्रवांछसि

Transliteration

ahaṃ śatasahasraṃ te yacchāmyasyāḥ kṛte dvija | dhenūnāmaparaṃ vittaṃ yāvanmātraṃ pravāṃchasi

Translation

“اے دِوِج! اس کے بدلے میں تمہیں ایک لاکھ (ایک سو ہزار) دوں گا، اور گایوں کی صورت میں مزید دولت بھی—جتنی مقدار تم چاہو۔”

Word by Word

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तम-पुरुषवाचक-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• शतसहस्रम्: a hundred thousand
• शतसहस्रम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत + सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक; समाहार/समास)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन (समाहारार्थ)

• ते: to you
• ते: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: चतुर्थी-विभक्ति (4th/Dative), एकवचन

• यच्छामि: I give
• यच्छामि: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: यम्/यच्छ् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), उत्तम-पुरुष (1st person), एकवचन

• अस्याः: of this (cow)
• अस्याः: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• कृते: for the sake of
• कृते: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कृत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-प्रयोग (postposition-like): ‘कृते’ = हेतु/निमित्ते (for the sake of); सप्तमी-एकवचनरूपेण अव्ययवत्

• द्विज: O brahmin
• द्विज: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• धेनूनाम्: of cows
• धेनूनाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धेनु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• अपरम्: other, additional
• अपरम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अपर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• वित्तम्: wealth
• वित्तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वित्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• यावत्: as much as
• यावत्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यावत् (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययप्राय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; परिमाणवाचक

• मात्रम्: amount, measure
• मात्रम्: Karma (Measure-object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मात्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; परिमाणार्थ

• प्रवाञ्छसि: you desire
• प्रवाञ्छसि: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + वाञ्छ् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), मध्यम-पुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन

Speaker

Rājā (the king)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Jamadagni

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A king offers heaps of coins and a line of cows as ‘exchange’; Jamadagni remains unmoved, the homadhenu standing serene, suggesting sacred value beyond price.

Characters & Entities

• Jamadagni
• gauḥ (cow)
• homadhenu (implied context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Material wealth is offered as inducement, but dharma tests whether sacred beings (like a revered cow) can be treated as commodities.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse sits within the Tīrthamāhātmya narrative frame; the excerpt itself focuses on dharma around the homadhenu rather than naming a particular tīrtha in this line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct rite is prescribed here; the emphasis is on dāna/wealth-offer as a temptation and the dharmic limits of such transactions.