Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 49

Devanagari script

यस्मिञ्जगत्स्थावरजंगमादिकं काले लयं प्राप्य पुनः प्ररोहति । तस्मिन्प्रनष्टे द्विजशापपीडिते जयद्धतप्राय मवर्तत क्षणात्

Transliteration

yasmiñjagatsthāvarajaṃgamādikaṃ kāle layaṃ prāpya punaḥ prarohati | tasminpranaṣṭe dvijaśāpapīḍite jayaddhataprāya mavartata kṣaṇāt

Translation

Er, in dem die ganze Welt — das Unbewegte und das Bewegte — zur bestimmten Zeit in Auflösung eingeht und wieder neu hervorwächst: als jener Herr verschwand, vom Fluch des Brahmanen bedrängt, wurde das All im Nu, als stünde es schon im Untergang.

Word by Word

• yasmin: in which
• yasmin: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• jagat: the world
• jagat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jagat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (singular)

• sthāvara-jaṅgama-ādikam: immovables, movables, etc.
• sthāvara-jaṅgama-ādikam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sthāvara (प्रातिपदिक) + jaṅgama (प्रातिपदिक) + ādika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: द्वन्द्व (copulative) ‘स्थावर- जङ्गम’ + ‘आदिक’ (etc.); नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular)

• kāle: in time / at the time
• kāle: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• layam: dissolution
• layam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: laya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular)

• prāpya: having attained/reached
• prāpya: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial to action/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √āp (आप्) उपसर्ग: pra-; ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund)
• Form: कृदन्त (gerund/absolutive), ल्यप्-प्रत्यय; अव्ययभाव (indeclinable verbal)

• punaḥ: again
• punaḥ: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: punaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (indeclinable), क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• prarohati: sprouts/grows forth
• prarohati: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √ruh (रुह्) उपसर्ग: pra-
• Form: लट् लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular)

• tasmin: when/therein (in that)
• tasmin: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• pranaṣṭe: when (it was) destroyed/lost
• pranaṣṭe: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pra-√naś (नश्) क्त (past passive participle)
• Form: कृदन्त (PPP/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular); विशेषण (qualifying ‘tasmin’)

• dvija-śāpa-pīḍite: when afflicted by the Brahmins’ curse
• dvija-śāpa-pīḍite: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक) + śāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + pīḍita (पीडित, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष (determinative) ‘द्विज-शाप’ (curse of Brahmins) + ‘पीडित’ (afflicted); पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular); विशेषण (qualifying ‘tasmin’)

• jayad-dhata-prāyam: almost as if (suddenly) victorious/overpowered (i.e., abruptly)
• jayad-dhata-prāyam: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jayat (√ji, शतृ-प्रत्यय) + dhata (√dhā? क्त/कृदन्त; here as adjectival element) + prāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: बहुव्रीहि (possessive) ‘जयद्-धत-प्राय’ = ‘whose condition was almost (as if) victory/defeat’ (idiomatic); नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular); क्रियाविशेषणवत् (adverbial accusative qualifying the verb)

• avartata: turned/occurred/happened
• avartata: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vṛt (वृत्) उपसर्ग: ā-; आत्मनेपद
• Form: लङ् लकार (Imperfect/Past), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular)

• kṣaṇāt: in an instant / suddenly
• kṣaṇāt: Apadana (Ablative/source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), पञ्चमी विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन (singular)

Speaker

Narrator (within Brahma–Nārada Saṃvāda frame)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (context)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nārada

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic tableau: the universe of moving and unmoving beings fading like a dream; the Lord’s absence represented by a dimmed central bindu/halo; sages and devas witnessing near-pralaya in a moment.

Characters & Entities

• Jagat (universe)
• Dvija (brāhmaṇa)
• Deveśa (implied)
• Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Lord is portrayed as the cosmic ground of dissolution and renewal; separation from that sustaining presence leads to immediate existential collapse.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage is embedded in the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya of the Nāgara Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is cosmological, emphasizing the Lord’s role in pralaya and resurgence.