Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 20

Devanagari script

जनके विद्यमाने च स्व ल्पदोषाः प्रकीर्तिताः । कामक्रोधादयो ये च भवंति न भवंति च

Transliteration

janake vidyamāne ca sva lpadoṣāḥ prakīrtitāḥ | kāmakrodhādayo ye ca bhavaṃti na bhavaṃti ca

Translation

当有如“民之父”的正法之君在位时，人们只提及些微过失；而从贪欲与嗔怒等开始的诸恶——纵或生起——亦不致真正扎根。

Word by Word

• janake: in/with Janaka (king Janaka)
• janake: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• vidyamāne: when (he) was present/existing
• vidyamāne: Adhikarana (Locative absolute/अधिकरण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vid (विद्; धातु)
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन, पुंलिङ्ग; सति-सप्तमी (locative absolute)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक)

• svalpa-doṣāḥ: minor faults
• svalpa-doṣāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svalpa + doṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; कर्मधारयः (सवल्पाः दोषाः)

• prakīrtitāḥ: were proclaimed/mentioned
• prakīrtitāḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√kīrt (कीर्त्; धातु)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन, पुंलिङ्ग; कर्मणि प्रयोगः

• kāma-krodha-ādayaḥ: desire, anger, and the like
• kāma-krodha-ādayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāma + krodha + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः (कामः च क्रोधः च ...), 'आदि' समाहारसूचक

• ye: which (those)
• ye: Karta (Relative subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धबोधक सर्वनाम

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक)

• bhavanti: occur, exist
• bhavanti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (भू; धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निषेध-निपात)

• bhavanti: occur, exist
• bhavanti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (भू; धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative style; exact speaker not explicit in snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A serene, just king seated in assembly, listening to petitions; behind him a dharma-banner and a shrine; around, citizens calm and orderly, with symbolic kāma and krodha figures fading into the background.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A righteous, dharmic ruler stabilizes society so that even common vices fail to dominate; governance rooted in dharma restrains collective downfall.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse functions as yuga- and social-order description within the Tīrthamāhātmya context; no single tīrtha is named in this shloka alone.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse.