Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 67

Devanagari script

तापस्य ऊचुः । नास्माकं भूषणैः कार्यं भूषिता वल्कलैर्वयम् । तस्माद्गच्छ निजं हर्म्यमर्थिभ्यः संप्रदीयताम्

Transliteration

tāpasya ūcuḥ | nāsmākaṃ bhūṣaṇaiḥ kāryaṃ bhūṣitā valkalairvayam | tasmādgaccha nijaṃ harmyamarthibhyaḥ saṃpradīyatām

Translation

苦行女说道：“我们不需饰物；树皮之衣已是我们的庄严。故请回到你的宫邸，将这些如法施与贫乏之人。”

Word by Word

• tāpasyaḥ: the female ascetics
• tāpasyaḥ: Karta (Speaker/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāpasī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• ūcuḥ: said
• ūcuḥ: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• na: not
• na: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय

• asmākam: of us/for us
• asmākam: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी, बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• bhūṣaṇaiḥ: with ornaments
• bhūṣaṇaiḥ: Karana (Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd case), बहुवचन

• kāryam: need/use/purpose
• kāryam: Karta (Predicate nominal)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kārya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; भाववाचक

• bhūṣitāḥ: adorned
• bhūṣitāḥ: Kriya (Predicative participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhūṣ (धातु)
• Form: क्त (PPP), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• valkalaiḥ: with bark-garments
• valkalaiḥ: Karana (Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: valkala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन

• vayam: we
• vayam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा, बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• tasmāt: therefore
• tasmāt: Hetu (Reason/cause)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तस्मात् (ablative used adverbially) = therefore/from that reason

• gaccha: go
• gaccha: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• nijam: your own
• nijam: Visheshana (Qualifier of harmyam)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nija (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• harmyam: mansion/house
• harmyam: Karma (Goal/object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: harmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• arthibhyaḥ: to the needy/suitors
• arthibhyaḥ: Sampradana (Recipient)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arthin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th case), बहुवचन

• saṃpradīyatām: let it be given away
• saṃpradīyatām: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: saṃ + pra + dā (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive)

Speaker

Tāpasyaḥ (ascetic women)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The four ascetic women gently refuse the ornaments, pointing toward the town/road where the needy dwell; their bark garments and antelope skins glow with symbolic purity.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True renunciation values simplicity; wealth finds its dharmic fulfillment when redirected to those who genuinely need it.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it contributes to the moral atmosphere of a tīrtha-māhātmya episode.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Dāna is explicitly advised: give valuables to ‘arthin’—those who ask or are needy—rather than to renunciants who do not require them.