Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 44

Devanagari script

अष्टषष्टिषु तीर्थेषु सत्यं वासः सदा क्षितौ । तेषु संस्थाप्य तल्लिंगं तस्य नाशाय रात्रिप

Transliteration

aṣṭaṣaṣṭiṣu tīrtheṣu satyaṃ vāsaḥ sadā kṣitau | teṣu saṃsthāpya talliṃgaṃ tasya nāśāya rātripa

Translation

আটষট্টি তীর্থে সত্যই পৃথিবীতে সদা তাঁর অধিষ্ঠান আছে; হে রাত্রিপ! সেই তীর্থসমূহে সেই লিঙ্গ স্থাপন করো, ঐ ব্যাধির বিনাশের জন্য।

Word by Word

• अष्टषष्टिषु: in (the) sixty-eight
• अष्टषष्टिषु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्ट-षष्टि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (षष्टि), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), बहुवचन; द्विगु-समास: अष्ट च षष्टिः (68)

• तीर्थेषु: in the sacred places (tīrthas)
• तीर्थेषु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• सत्यम्: truly/indeed
• सत्यम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सत्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-प्रयोगेण क्रियाविशेषण (indeclinable adverbial accusative): truly/indeed

• वासः: dwelling/abode
• वासः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• सदा: always
• सदा: Kriya-visheshana (Temporal adverb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (always)

• क्षितौ: on earth
• क्षितौ: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षिति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन

• तेषु: in those (places)
• तेषु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), बहुवचन

• संस्थाप्य: having स्थापित/installed
• संस्थाप्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-स्था (धातु)
• Form: ल्यप्-प्रत्ययान्त (Absolutive/Gerund): having established/placed

• तत्-लिङ्गम्: that liṅga (Śiva-emblem)
• तत्-लिङ्गम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद्-लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: तस्य लिङ्गम् (that liṅga/emblem)

• तस्य: of him/of that
• तस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• नाशाय: for destruction
• नाशाय: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी-विभक्ति (Dative), एकवचन; प्रयोजनार्थ (for the purpose of destruction)

• रात्रिप: O lord of the night
• रात्रिप: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रात्रिप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सम्बोधन-प्रथमा (Vocative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: रात्रेः पः/पः = पति (lord of night)

Speaker

Unspecified in snippet (context suggests instruction addressed to Candra)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Aṣṭaṣaṣṭi-tīrtha (Sixty-eight Tīrthas)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Candra (Rātripati)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Romaka instructs the Moon to establish a liṅga across the sixty-eight tīrthas where divine presence abides, specifically to destroy the affliction; imagery expands from dialogue to a map-like sacred circuit.

Characters & Entities

• Candra
• Śiva-liṅga
• Tīrthas (68)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred places are living conduits of divine presence, and establishing Śiva’s symbol there, with devotion, is portrayed as spiritually and materially transformative.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The chapter context points to Prabhāsa-kṣetra while also invoking a network of sixty-eight tīrthas.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Liṅga-saṃsthāpana (establishing a Śiva-liṅga) in the tīrthas is prescribed for removing the affliction.