Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24

Devanagari script

ततस्तत्तोयनिर्दग्धं तद्विभागं क्षितेस्तदा । ऊषरत्वमनुप्राप्तमद्यापि द्विजसत्तमाः

Transliteration

tatastattoyanirdagdhaṃ tadvibhāgaṃ kṣitestadā | ūṣaratvamanuprāptamadyāpi dvijasattamāḥ

Translation

ثم إن ذلك الجزء من الأرض، وقد أُحرق بتلك المياه، صار سبخةً ملحيةً قاحلة؛ وهو باقٍ كذلك إلى اليوم، يا خيرَ ذوي الميلادين.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: thereafter
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) = thereafter

• tat-toya-nirdagdham: burnt by that water
• tat-toya-nirdagdham: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + toya (प्रातिपदिक) + nirdagdha (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—‘तत्-तोयेन निर्दग्धम्’ (burnt/scorched by that water); ‘निर्दग्ध’ = निर्+दह् धातोः क्त

• tat-vibhāgam: that portion/region
• tat-vibhāgam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + vibhāga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (तस्य विभागः)

• kṣiteḥ: of the earth
• kṣiteḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣiti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन

• tadā: then
• tadā: Sambandha (Temporal/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (कालवाचक) = then/at that time

• ūṣaratvam: barrenness/salinity
• ūṣaratvam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ūṣaratva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• anuprāptam: has attained/has become
• anuprāptam: Kriya (Result state/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: anu + √prāp (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्यय (past passive participle) ‘anuprāpta’ = ‘having attained/come to’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन; भावे प्रयोगः (it has come to be)

• adya: even today
• adya: Sambandha (Temporal/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (कालवाचक) = today/now

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (अपि = also/even)

• dvija-sattamāḥ: O best of the twice-born (Brahmins)
• dvija-sattamāḥ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक) + sattama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/vocative), बहुवचन; कर्मधारय-तत्पुरुष-प्रायः ‘श्रेष्ठा द्विजाः’ (O best of twice-born)

Speaker

Unspecified narrator within the Purāṇic frame (addressing brāhmaṇas)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: dvija-sattamāḥ (addressed audience: best of twice-born)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A scorched patch of earth turns white and crusted with salt; sages and pilgrims point to it as a living testimony—‘it remains so even today’—with the surrounding land contrasting fertile vs. barren.

Characters & Entities

• Ūṣara (barren/saline land)
• Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic dharma links moral-spiritual forces with the physical world, explaining enduring landscape features as karmic outcomes.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra and its surrounding terrain, including a remembered ūṣara (wasteland) zone.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; it narrates the result of a prior curse-act involving ritual water.