Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

नारद उवाच । उपचारैः षोडशभिः पूजनं क्रियते कथम् । ते के षोडश भावाः स्युर्नित्यं ये शयने हरेः

Transliteration

nārada uvāca | upacāraiḥ ṣoḍaśabhiḥ pūjanaṃ kriyate katham | te ke ṣoḍaśa bhāvāḥ syurnityaṃ ye śayane hareḥ

Translation

Nārada sprach: „Wie wird die Verehrung mit den sechzehn Upacāra, den rituellen Diensten, vollzogen? Und welche sind in Wahrheit jene sechzehn hingebungsvollen Observanzen, die täglich darzubringen sind, wenn Hari in seinem heiligen Zustand des ‚Liegens‘ weilt?“

Word by Word

• nāradaḥ: Nārada
• nāradaḥ: Karta (Speaker/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nārada (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• upacāraiḥ: with services/offerings
• upacāraiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: upacāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन

• ṣoḍaśabhiḥ: by sixteen
• ṣoḍaśabhiḥ: Karaṇa-visheshaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣoḍaśa (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन; संख्यावाचक विशेषण

• pūjanam: worship
• pūjanam: Karta (Grammatical subject of passive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pūjana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• kriyate: is done/performed
• kriyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोग (passive sense)

• katham: how?
• katham: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Interrogative adverb)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रश्नार्थक क्रियाविशेषण

• te: those
• te: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• ke: which/what (ones)?
• ke: Karta-visheshaṇa (Interrogative qualifier)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; प्रश्नवाचक सर्वनाम

• ṣoḍaśa: sixteen
• ṣoḍaśa: Karta-visheshaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣoḍaśa (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्याशब्दः; अत्र विशेषणरूपेण (sixteen)

• bhāvāḥ: modes/acts, observances
• bhāvāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• syuḥ: may be / should be
• syuḥ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• nityam: always
• nityam: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nitya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• ye: which (that)
• ye: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम

• śayane: in/at the resting (posture/bed)
• śayane: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śayana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• hareḥ: of Hari (Viṣṇu)
• hareḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hari (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन

Speaker

Nārada

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (context)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Nārada, with vīṇā, respectfully questions Brahmā about the sixteen upacāras; an icon of reclining Hari (Śeṣaśāyī) is envisioned behind them.

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• Hari (Viṣṇu)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True devotion is expressed through disciplined, complete worship—offering all sixteen services with steady daily reverence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The immediate verse is procedural (pūjā) within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya setting, rather than naming a new tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Ṣoḍaśopacāra-pūjā (worship by sixteen services) and daily observances during Hari’s śayana (reclining) period.