Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

उपर्युपरि तेषां च कर्दमेन द्विजोत्तमाः । चक्रे लिंगानि नित्यं स सप्तविंशतिसंख्यया

Transliteration

uparyupari teṣāṃ ca kardamena dvijottamāḥ | cakre liṃgāni nityaṃ sa saptaviṃśatisaṃkhyayā

Translation

তাদের উপর উপর সেই দ্বিজোত্তম কাদামাটি দিয়ে নিত্যই সাতাশ সংখ্যায় লিঙ্গ নির্মাণ করতেন।

Word by Word

• उपरि: above
• उपरि: Adhikaraṇa (Locative sense)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उपरि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (locative adverb) — 'above'

• उपरि: one above another
• उपरि: Adhikaraṇa (Locative sense)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उपरि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, पुनरुक्ति (repetition for emphasis) — 'again above/one over another'

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचनम् — 'of them'

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चय (conjunction) — 'and'

• कर्दमेन: with mud
• कर्दमेन: Karana (Instrument/Means)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्दम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचनम् — 'with mud/clay'

• द्विजोत्तमाः: the best Brahmins
• द्विजोत्तमाः: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विजोत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचनम् — 'excellent Brahmins'

• चक्रे: made
• चक्रे: Kriya (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd), एकवचनम्, परस्मैपदम् — 'made/did'

• लिंगानि: liṅgas
• लिंगानि: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिंग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचनम् — 'liṅgas'

• नित्यम्: always
• नित्यम्: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Temporal/Frequency)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव/क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण (adverbial accusative), नपुंसक द्वितीया एकवचन-प्रयोगः — 'always/regularly'

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचनम् — सर्वनाम — 'he'

• सप्तविंशतिसंख्यया: by the count of twenty-seven
• सप्तविंशतिसंख्यया: Karana (Measure/Instrumental of measure)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सप्तविंशति (प्रातिपदिक) + संख्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचनम् — 'by the number twenty-seven'

Speaker

Narrator (implied Purāṇic narrator; likely Sūta in the Nāgara-khaṇḍa frame)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The brāhmaṇa kneads wet clay (kardama) and shapes liṅgas, stacking them carefully one above another; twenty-seven small liṅgas form a tiered mound on a sanctified patch of earth.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva-liṅga
• dvijottama (brāhmaṇa)
• kardama (clay)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Steady devotional practice (nitya-kriyā) sanctifies even simple materials like clay when offered with faith.

Which specific holy site (Tīrtha) is glorified here?

The passage belongs to the Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya, connected with the Nāgareśvara-liṅga tradition and its surrounding sacred locale.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The practice of forming and establishing multiple liṅgas (here, 27) as an act of ongoing worship.