Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 49

Devanagari script

यस्मिञ्जगत्स्थावरजंगमादिकं काले लयं प्राप्य पुनः प्ररोहति । तस्मिन्प्रनष्टे द्विजशापपीडिते जयद्धतप्राय मवर्तत क्षणात्

Transliteration

yasmiñjagatsthāvarajaṃgamādikaṃ kāle layaṃ prāpya punaḥ prarohati | tasminpranaṣṭe dvijaśāpapīḍite jayaddhataprāya mavartata kṣaṇāt

Translation

هو الذي فيه يذوب العالم كلّه—الثابت والمتحرّك—عند الأجل المعيّن ثم ينهض من جديد؛ فلما اختفى ذلك الربّ، مُثقلًا بلعنةِ البرهمن، صار الكون في لحظةٍ كأنه آيلٌ إلى الهلاك.

Word by Word

• yasmin: in which
• yasmin: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• jagat: the world
• jagat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jagat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (singular)

• sthāvara-jaṅgama-ādikam: immovables, movables, etc.
• sthāvara-jaṅgama-ādikam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sthāvara (प्रातिपदिक) + jaṅgama (प्रातिपदिक) + ādika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: द्वन्द्व (copulative) ‘स्थावर- जङ्गम’ + ‘आदिक’ (etc.); नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular)

• kāle: in time / at the time
• kāle: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• layam: dissolution
• layam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: laya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular)

• prāpya: having attained/reached
• prāpya: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial to action/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √āp (आप्) उपसर्ग: pra-; ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund)
• Form: कृदन्त (gerund/absolutive), ल्यप्-प्रत्यय; अव्ययभाव (indeclinable verbal)

• punaḥ: again
• punaḥ: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: punaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (indeclinable), क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• prarohati: sprouts/grows forth
• prarohati: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √ruh (रुह्) उपसर्ग: pra-
• Form: लट् लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular)

• tasmin: when/therein (in that)
• tasmin: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• pranaṣṭe: when (it was) destroyed/lost
• pranaṣṭe: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pra-√naś (नश्) क्त (past passive participle)
• Form: कृदन्त (PPP/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular); विशेषण (qualifying ‘tasmin’)

• dvija-śāpa-pīḍite: when afflicted by the Brahmins’ curse
• dvija-śāpa-pīḍite: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक) + śāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + pīḍita (पीडित, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष (determinative) ‘द्विज-शाप’ (curse of Brahmins) + ‘पीडित’ (afflicted); पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular); विशेषण (qualifying ‘tasmin’)

• jayad-dhata-prāyam: almost as if (suddenly) victorious/overpowered (i.e., abruptly)
• jayad-dhata-prāyam: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jayat (√ji, शतृ-प्रत्यय) + dhata (√dhā? क्त/कृदन्त; here as adjectival element) + prāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: बहुव्रीहि (possessive) ‘जयद्-धत-प्राय’ = ‘whose condition was almost (as if) victory/defeat’ (idiomatic); नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular); क्रियाविशेषणवत् (adverbial accusative qualifying the verb)

• avartata: turned/occurred/happened
• avartata: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vṛt (वृत्) उपसर्ग: ā-; आत्मनेपद
• Form: लङ् लकार (Imperfect/Past), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular)

• kṣaṇāt: in an instant / suddenly
• kṣaṇāt: Apadana (Ablative/source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), पञ्चमी विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन (singular)

Speaker

Narrator (within Brahma–Nārada Saṃvāda frame)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (context)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nārada

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic tableau: the universe of moving and unmoving beings fading like a dream; the Lord’s absence represented by a dimmed central bindu/halo; sages and devas witnessing near-pralaya in a moment.

Characters & Entities

• Jagat (universe)
• Dvija (brāhmaṇa)
• Deveśa (implied)
• Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Lord is portrayed as the cosmic ground of dissolution and renewal; separation from that sustaining presence leads to immediate existential collapse.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage is embedded in the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya of the Nāgara Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is cosmological, emphasizing the Lord’s role in pralaya and resurgence.