Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 84

Devanagari script

अधोमुखे च नरके दीर्घग्रीवप्रपीड्य

Transliteration

adhomukhe ca narake dīrghagrīvaprapīḍya

Translation

Và trong địa ngục mang tên Adhomukha, họ bị nghiền nát—những chiếc cổ dài bị ấn xuống cho đến khi vỡ vụn.

Word by Word

• adho-mukhe: in (the hell called) Adhomukha
• adho-mukhe: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adhas (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक) + mukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (मुख-शब्दः नपुंसकः), सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारयसमासः ‘अधः मुखं यस्मिन्’ (नरक-नाम)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• narake: in hell
• narake: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• dīrgha-grīva-prapīḍya: having crushed (by) the long neck / after crushing the long neck
• dīrgha-grīva-prapīḍya: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: dīrgha (प्रातिपदिक) + grīva (प्रातिपदिक) + pra-√pīḍ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive) ‘प्रपीड्य’; उपपद-तत्पुरुषसमासः ‘दीर्घग्रीवां प्रपीड्य’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa, Skanda → Agastya dialogue context)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A vertical, crushing device in the hell Adhomukha: victims hang or are forced face-down; their long necks are pressed under a heavy beam/stone, conveying the ‘downward’ inversion and suffocation.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Kāśī
• Naraka
• Adhomukha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Actions generate corresponding results; the Purāṇa uses vivid naraka imagery to cultivate restraint and dharmic living.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī provides the narrative frame; this fragment is part of a broader karmic teaching rather than a site-glorification.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this fragment.