Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 41

Devanagari script

एतदेव परं ब्रह्म द्वादशाक्षररूपधृक् । मया प्रकाशितं देवि स्कन्दे हि विमलं तव

Transliteration

etadeva paraṃ brahma dvādaśākṣararūpadhṛk | mayā prakāśitaṃ devi skande hi vimalaṃ tava

Translation

هذا بعينه هو البراهمان الأسمى، المتجسِّد في صورة المانترا ذات الاثني عشر مقطعًا. أيتها الإلهة، قد كشفتُه لكِ في تقليد سكَندا، طاهرًا لا دنس فيه، لأجلكِ.

Word by Word

• एतत्: this
• एतत्: Karta/Pradhāna (Subject/Topic)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन (Neuter pronoun, Nom/Acc, Singular)

• एव: indeed
• एव: Avadhāraṇa (Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक-निपात (emphatic particle)

• परम्: supreme
• परम्: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (Neuter, Nom/Acc, Singular; adjective)

• ब्रह्म: Brahman; the Absolute
• ब्रह्म: Karta/Pradhāna (Subject/Predicate-noun)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन (Neuter, Nom/Acc, Singular)

• द्वादशाक्षररूपधृक्: bearing the form of the twelve-syllabled (mantra)
• द्वादशाक्षररूपधृक्: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वादश + अक्षर + रूप + धृ (धातु) → धृक् (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; वर्तमानकृदन्तः (धृ धातोः क्विप्), ‘धारयति’ इति (Masculine, Nom, Singular; present participial agent-noun)

• मया: by me
• मया: Karta (Agent, instrumental in passive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3), एकवचन (1st-person pronoun, Instrumental, Singular)

• प्रकाशितम्: revealed; made known
• प्रकाशितम्: Karma (Object in passive)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्र + काश् (धातु) → प्रकाशित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्तः (क्त), कर्मणि-प्रयोगार्थः (Neuter, Nom/Acc, Singular; past passive participle)

• देवि: O Goddess
• देवि: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8), एकवचन (Feminine, Vocative, Singular)

• स्कन्दे: in (the section called) Skanda
• स्कन्दे: Adhikaraṇa (Location/Context)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्कन्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन (Masculine, Locative, Singular)

• हि: indeed; for
• हि: Nipāta (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: हेतुबोधक/निश्चयार्थक-निपात (particle: indeed/for)

• विमलम्: pure; spotless
• विमलम्: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विमल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (Neuter, Nom/Acc, Singular; adjective)

• तव: your
• तव: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: मध्यमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, षष्ठी (6), एकवचन (2nd-person pronoun, Genitive, Singular)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A narrator reveals to Devī a radiant mantra-form: twelve syllables arranged as a luminous body of Brahman; the scene is suffused with white-gold purity.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Devī
• Para Brahman
• Dvādaśākṣara (twelve-syllable mantra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The mantra is not merely a tool; it is identified with the Supreme Reality itself.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No particular tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as doctrinal revelation within the tīrthamāhātmya narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It authorizes reverent contemplation and use of the dvādaśākṣara as a direct form of Brahman.