Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 69

Devanagari script

अजानां कदनं दृष्ट्वा ततः स पृथिवीपतिः । स्वहस्ताद्यष्टिमुत्सृज्य जग्राह निशितायुधम्

Transliteration

ajānāṃ kadanaṃ dṛṣṭvā tataḥ sa pṛthivīpatiḥ | svahastādyaṣṭimutsṛjya jagrāha niśitāyudham

Translation

معصوم لوگوں کے قتلِ عام کو دیکھ کر زمین کے مالک بادشاہ نے ہاتھ کی لاٹھی پھینک دی اور تیز دھار ہتھیار تھام لیا۔

Word by Word

• अजानाम्: of the goats
• अजानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अजा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• कदनम्: slaughter/destruction
• कदनम्: Karma (Object of seeing/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कदन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• दृष्ट्वा: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Adverbial participle/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु) → दृष्ट्वा (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (Gerund/Absolutive), ‘having seen’

• ततः: then
• ततः: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, क्रियाविशेषण (adverb) ‘then/from there’

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• पृथिवीपतिः: the king
• पृथिवीपतिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथिवी (प्रातिपदिक) + पति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (पृथिवी-पति = lord of the earth), पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• स्वहस्तात्: from his own hand
• स्वहस्तात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + हस्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (स्व-हस्त = own hand), पुल्लिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन

• यष्टिम्: staff/rod
• यष्टिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यष्टि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• उत्सृज्य: having thrown away
• उत्सृज्य: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Adverbial participle/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उत् + सृज् (धातु) → उत्सृज्य (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (Gerund), ‘having cast away’

• जग्राह: took/seized
• जग्राह: Kriya (Main action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ग्रह् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

• निशितायुधम्: a sharp weapon
• निशितायुधम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: निशित (प्रातिपदिक) + आयुध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (निशितम् आयुधम् = sharp weapon), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa to sages within Nāgarakhaṇḍa framing)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The king, seeing the slaughter, throws aside his staff and grips a sharp weapon, stepping forward as his retinue recoils.

Characters & Entities

• pṛthivīpati (king)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Righteous kingship (kṣātra-dharma) begins with protecting the helpless; moral outrage at adharma becomes a duty to act.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse is part of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya flow; the immediate line emphasizes dharmic action within the broader tīrtha-glorification narrative of Adhyāya 95.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual (snāna/dāna/japa) is stated here; it focuses on the dharmic response of a ruler.