Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 50

Devanagari script

योजनानां सहस्राणि नव प्रत्येकशः स्मृताः । मेरोश्चतुर्दशं खंडं गंधमाल्यवतोर्द्वयोः

Transliteration

yojanānāṃ sahasrāṇi nava pratyekaśaḥ smṛtāḥ | meroścaturdaśaṃ khaṃḍaṃ gaṃdhamālyavatordvayoḥ

Translation

Man überliefert, dass jede (Abteilung) sich über neuntausend Yojanas erstreckt. Vom Berge Meru wird die vierzehnfache Gliederung beschrieben in Beziehung zu den Gebirgszügen Gandhamādana und Mālyavat.

Word by Word

• योजनानाम्: of yojanas
• योजनानाम्: Sambandha (षष्ठी/measure-of)
• Type: Noun
• Root: योजन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन

• सहस्राणि: thousands
• सहस्राणि: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• नव: nine
• नव: Visheshana (विशेषण/quantifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नवन् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्याविशेषण (numeral adjective), बहुवचनार्थे (used with plural)

• प्रत्येकशः: each (separately)
• प्रत्येकशः: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्रति-एक-शस् (अव्यय; शस्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: वितरणार्थक-अव्यय (distributive adverb: ‘each, severally’)

• स्मृताः: are said
• स्मृताः: Kriya (क्रिया/predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; ‘are stated/remembered’ (agreeing with सहस्राणि by sense; form is masculine plural as in transmitted text)

• मेरोः: of Meru
• मेरोः: Sambandha (षष्ठी/possessive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मेरु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), एकवचन

• चतुर्दशम्: fourteen
• चतुर्दशम्: Visheshana (विशेषण/quantifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्दशन् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन; संख्याविशेषण (numeral)

• खण्डम्: section/part
• खण्डम्: Karman (कर्म/Object; implied with ‘(is)’/context)
• Type: Noun
• Root: खण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन

• गन्धमाल्यवतोः: of the two (mountains) Gandhamādana and Mālyavat (lit. ‘fragrant’ and ‘garlanded’)
• गन्धमाल्यवतोः: Sambandha (षष्ठी/possessive; ‘of the two’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गन्ध-माल्य-वत् (प्रातिपदिक; गन्ध + माल्य + वत्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), द्विवचन (Dual)

• द्वयोः: of the two
• द्वयोः: Sambandha (षष्ठी/partitive-possessive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्वि (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी/सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Genitive/Locative), द्विवचन (Dual); here षष्ठी (genitive)

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) (deduced: Māheśvara Khaṇḍa narration to sages)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Meru (Sumeru)

Type: peak

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A grand cosmic landscape: towering golden Meru with fourteen divisions, flanked by Gandhamādana and Mālyavat; distances marked as ‘nine thousand yojanas’ per division, with clouds and celestial beings indicating scale.

Characters & Entities

• Meru
• Gandhamādana
• Mālyavat
• Yojana

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The cosmos is portrayed as ordered and measurable, inviting reverence for divine design that supports dharma and pilgrimage imagination.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Meru and its associated mountain ranges are referenced as sacred cosmic geography, not a local tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse provides cosmographic measurement and division.