Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 73

Devanagari script

अपि स्वल्पं न सौभ्रात्रं तेषां संजायते क्वचित्

Transliteration

api svalpaṃ na saubhrātraṃ teṣāṃ saṃjāyate kvacit

Translation

于彼等而言，兄弟之情哪怕一丝一毫，也从未在任何时候生起。

Word by Word

• अपि: even
• अपि: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), अपि = ‘even/also’

• स्वल्पम्: a little
• स्वल्पम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्वल्प (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; विशेषण (सौभ्रात्रम्)

• न: not
• न: Pratishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• सौभ्रात्रम्: brotherly affection
• सौभ्रात्रम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सौभ्रात्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• संजायते: arises, is produced
• संजायते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• क्वचित्: ever, at any time
• क्वचित्: Desha-Kala (Adverbial/देश-काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्वचित् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, काल/देशवाचक (indefinite adverb)

Speaker

Unspecified (continuation of the same narration to Lakṣmaṇa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Lakṣmaṇa

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Pilgrims within the precinct appear emotionally distant despite kinship; two brothers walk side-by-side but with a visible gap; the teacher narrates the kṣetra’s strange rule.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The text frames disharmony as an effect of place (kṣetra), urging discernment and remedial rites rather than mere blame.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The wider passage concerns a particular tīrtha within a pañcakrośa-kṣetra in Nāgarakhaṇḍa, Adhyāya 20.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it sets up the rationale for purification through tīrtha-snāna later.