Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

सूत उवाच । एतेषां तु सहस्रेण भवेद्ग्राह्यं दिनं द्विजाः । चतुर्दश सहस्राक्षा जायंते तत्र वासरे

Transliteration

sūta uvāca | eteṣāṃ tu sahasreṇa bhavedgrāhyaṃ dinaṃ dvijāḥ | caturdaśa sahasrākṣā jāyaṃte tatra vāsare

Translation

Sūta sprach: O ihr Zweifachgeborenen, durch tausend von diesen ist ein einziger Tag zu berechnen; und an jenem Tage entstehen vierzehntausend „Akṣas“.

Word by Word

• सूतः: Sūta
• सूतः: Karta (Speaker/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriyā (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• एतेषाम्: of these
• एतेषाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• तु: indeed/but
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधान/विरोधसूचक (particle: but/indeed)

• सहस्रेण: by a thousand
• सहस्रेण: Karaṇa (Instrument/means)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन; करणवाचक

• भवेत्: would be/becomes
• भवेत्: Kriyā (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √भू (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• ग्राह्यम्: to be taken/acceptable
• ग्राह्यम्: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (Predicate adjective of dinam)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ग्राह्य (√ग्रह् धातु; यत्-प्रत्यय, कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विधेय-विशेषण (predicative)

• दिनम्: a day
• दिनम्: Karta (Subject of bhavet)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• द्विजाः: O twice-born (Brahmins)
• द्विजाः: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; संबोधनार्थे प्रथमा (vocative sense)

• चतुर्दश: fourteen
• चतुर्दश: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्दश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्याशब्दः; विशेषण (numeral)

• सहस्राक्षाः: thousand-eyed ones (Indras)
• सहस्राक्षाः: Karta (Subject of jāyante)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र-अक्ष (सहस्र + अक्ष; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहि (सहस्रम् अक्षाणि यस्य = 'thousand-eyed', इन्द्रादि)

• जायन्ते: are born/arise
• जायन्ते: Kriyā (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikaraṇa (Location)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (locative adverb)

• वासरे: on (that) day
• वासरे: Adhikaraṇa (Time)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वासर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन

Speaker

Sūta

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: dvijāḥ (assembled brāhmaṇas/śaunakādayaḥ-type audience)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sūta addresses assembled brāhmaṇas, presenting a tablet-like cosmic ledger of time-units; behind him a symbolic wheel of time with counted beads/akṣa-dice motifs emerging as units.

Characters & Entities

• Sūta
• Dvija (Brāhmaṇas)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It continues the Purāṇic mapping of reality through sacred numbers, situating human understanding within ordered cosmic law.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The discourse continues under Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra-māhātmya in the Nāgara-khaṇḍa, though the verse itself emphasizes cosmological reckoning.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it introduces a numerical/cosmological unit and its generative consequence.