Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

फलमूलकृताहारस्ततो वर्षशतत्रयम् । ध्यायमानः परं ब्रह्म स्थितो ब्राह्मणसत्तमाः । शीर्णपर्णाशनः पश्चात्तावत्कालं व्यवस्थितः

Transliteration

phalamūlakṛtāhārastato varṣaśatatrayam | dhyāyamānaḥ paraṃ brahma sthito brāhmaṇasattamāḥ | śīrṇaparṇāśanaḥ paścāttāvatkālaṃ vyavasthitaḥ

Translation

Dann lebte jener vortrefflichste der Brahmanen dreihundert Jahre lang von Früchten und Wurzeln und verharrte, in Meditation versunken, im Gedenken an das höchste Brahman. Danach nährte er sich von herabgefallenen, verdorrten Blättern und blieb für die gleiche Zeitspanne standhaft.

Word by Word

• phalamūlakṛtāhāraḥ: one whose food was made of fruits and roots
• phalamūlakṛtāhāraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: phala (प्रातिपदिक) + mūla (प्रातिपदिक) + kṛta (कृदन्त; √kṛ (धातु) + क्त) + āhāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुपद-तत्पुरुष-समास (फलमूलैः कृतः आहारः यस्य); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; predicate adjective

• tataḥ: thereafter
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रम/अनन्तर-अव्यय; adverb ‘thereafter’

• varṣaśatatrayam: three hundred years
• varṣaśatatrayam: Kāla-adhvana (Duration/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + śata (प्रातिपदिक) + traya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्विगु-समास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; duration-accusative

• dhyāyamānaḥ: meditating
• dhyāyamānaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dhyāyamāna (कृदन्त; √dhyai (धातु) + शानच्)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (present participle, ātmanepada sense), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• param: supreme
• param: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; विशेषण

• brahma: Brahman (Absolute)
• brahma: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

• sthitaḥ: remaining, abiding
• sthitaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sthita (कृदन्त; √sthā (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; past participle used predicatively

• brāhmaṇasattamaḥ: best of Brahmins
• brāhmaṇasattamaḥ: Apposition (सम्बोधन/विशेष्य-विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + sattama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष/कर्मधारय-सदृश (ब्राह्मणेषु सत्तमः); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; epithet (text has plural ‘-āḥ’ but sense singular)

• śīrṇaparṇāśanaḥ: eating fallen/dry leaves
• śīrṇaparṇāśanaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śīrṇa (कृदन्त; √śṝ/√śīr (धातु) + क्त) + parṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + āśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (शीर्णानि पर्णानि आशनं यस्य); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; predicate adjective

• paścāt: afterwards
• paścāt: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: paścāt (अव्यय)
• Form: काल-अव्यय; adverb ‘afterwards’

• tāvatkālam: for that long a time
• tāvatkālam: Kāla-adhvana (Duration/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāvat (अव्यय/परिमाण) + kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास (तावत् कालम्); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; duration-accusative

• vyavasthitaḥ: steadfast, remaining
• vyavasthitaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi-ava-√sthā (धातु)
• Form: क्त-कृदन्त (past participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; ‘firmly established/remaining’

Speaker

Sūta (contextual continuation)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Himavat tapas-bhūmi (generic)

Type: peak

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and sages (implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An emaciated yet radiant ascetic seated in padmāsana beneath a Himalayan tree near a hermitage, with a small pile of fruits/roots in earlier phase and only dry leaves later; aura of stillness as he contemplates Parabrahman.

Characters & Entities

• Viśvāmitra
• Paraṃ Brahma

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Austerity is not merely bodily hardship; it is joined to contemplation of Brahman, making renunciation purposeful and liberating.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse continues the Himavat tapas setting while remaining within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya narrative frame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Dietary restraints (āhāra-niyama) are described—subsisting on fruits/roots and later on dried leaves.