Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

निवासमकरोत्तस्मिन्क्षेत्रे पुण्यतमे चिरम् । शीर्णपर्णफलाहारो भूमौ शेते सदा निशि । अन्य स्याऽन्यस्य वृक्षस्य मदाहंकारवर्जितः

Transliteration

nivāsamakarottasminkṣetre puṇyatame ciram | śīrṇaparṇaphalāhāro bhūmau śete sadā niśi | anya syā'nyasya vṛkṣasya madāhaṃkāravarjitaḥ

Translation

Lange Zeit nahm er in jenem höchst heiligen, verdienstvollen Gebiet Wohnung. Von herabgefallenen Blättern und Früchten lebend, schlief er nachts stets auf der Erde, von Baum zu Baum wandernd, frei von Stolz und Ichsucht.

Word by Word

• nivāsam: residence/dwelling
• nivāsam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nivāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), द्वितीया विभक्ति (accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular)

• akarot: made
• akarot: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: कृ (kṛ) धातु, लङ्-लकार (Imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपदम्

• tasmin: in that
• tasmin: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), सप्तमी विभक्ति (locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• kṣetre: field/holy region
• kṣetre: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), सप्तमी विभक्ति (locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• puṇyatame: most sacred
• puṇyatame: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: puṇyatama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), सप्तमी विभक्ति (locative/7th), एकवचन (singular); तमप्-प्रत्यय (superlative)

• ciram: for a long time
• ciram: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ciram (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of time)

• śīrṇa-parṇa-phala-āhāraḥ: one whose food was fallen leaves and fruits
• śīrṇa-parṇa-phala-āhāraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śīrṇa (कृदन्त; √śṝ/शी) + parṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + phala (प्रातिपदिक) + āhāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (nominative/1st), एकवचन (singular); बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः (determinative) ‘शीर्णानि पर्णानि फलानि च आहारः यस्य’ = having food of fallen leaves and fruits

• bhūmau: on the ground
• bhūmau: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūmi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• śete: lies/sleeps
• śete: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: śī (धातु)
• Form: शी (śī) धातु, लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular), आत्मनेपदम्

• sadā: always
• sadā: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadā (अव्यय)
• Form: नित्यत्ववाचक-अव्यय (adverb ‘always’)

• niśi: at night
• niśi: Adhikarana (Time-location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: niśā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• anyaḥ: different/other
• anyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (nominative/1st), एकवचन (singular)

• syāt: might be / should be
• syāt: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: अस् (as) धातु, विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपदम्

• anyasya: of another
• anyasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक (masc/neut), षष्ठी विभक्ति (genitive/6th), एकवचन (singular)

• vṛkṣasya: of a tree
• vṛkṣasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठī)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛkṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), षष्ठी विभक्ति (genitive/6th), एकवचन (singular)

• mada-ahaṃkāra-varjitaḥ: devoid of pride and ego
• mada-ahaṃkāra-varjitaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mada (प्रातिपदिक) + ahaṃkāra (प्रातिपदिक) + varjita (कृदन्त; √vṛj/वर्ज्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (nominative/1st), एकवचन (singular); क्त-प्रत्ययान्त ‘वर्जित’ (devoid of) + द्वन्द्व-समाहार-पूर्वपद (mada & ahaṃkāra) तत्पुरुषसमासः

Speaker

Sūta

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (Śaṅkhatīrtha cycle)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Purāṇic audience (not explicit)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The king lives like an ascetic in a sacred grove: eating fallen leaves and fruits, sleeping on bare earth, shifting from tree to tree, his royal identity subdued by humility.

Characters & Entities

• kṣetra (holy region)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The fruit of a kṣetra is approached through humility and austerity; egolessness is portrayed as a key qualification for receiving tīrtha-prabhāva.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse praises a “most holy kṣetra” within the Hāṭakeśvara sacred geography; the specific focal tīrtha of the chapter is Śaṅkhatīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A lifestyle-vrata is implied: simple fallen-fruit diet, sleeping on the earth, and renunciation of pride during residence in a sacred place.