Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 139

Devanagari script

अथ तत्र समायाता मुनयः संशितव्रताः । देवस्य दर्शनार्थाय शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः

Transliteration

atha tatra samāyātā munayaḥ saṃśitavratāḥ | devasya darśanārthāya śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ

Translation

Daraufhin versammelten sich dort die Weisen mit festen Gelübden—zu Hunderten und zu Tausenden—und suchten das Darśana, die göttliche Schau des Herrn.

Word by Word

• अथ: then
• अथ: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अनन्तरार्थक-अव्यय (then)

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (there)

• समायाताः: arrived
• समायाताः: Kriya-Visheshana (Predicate adjective/क्रिया-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम् + आ + या (धातु) + क्त (कृत्)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘having arrived’ (agreeing with मुनयः)

• मुनयः: sages
• मुनयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• संशितव्रताः: of strict vows
• संशितव्रताः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संशित (प्रातिपदिक/क्त-निष्पन्न from शा/शि ‘to sharpen/discipline’) + व्रत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मधारय (संशितं व्रतं येषाम्/संशितव्रताः = of disciplined vows)

• देवस्य: of the deity
• देवस्य: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• दर्शनार्थाय: for the purpose of seeing (him)
• दर्शनार्थाय: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दर्शन (प्रातिपदिक) + अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (दर्शनस्य अर्थः)

• शतशः: by hundreds
• शतशः: Sankhya (Quantifier/संख्या)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: शत (प्रातिपदिक) + शस् (अव्यय-प्रत्यय)
• Form: प्रकार/परिमाणवाचक-अव्यय (in hundreds; by hundreds)

• अथ: and then
• अथ: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अनन्तरार्थक-अव्यय

• सहस्रशः: by thousands
• सहस्रशः: Sankhya (Quantifier/संख्या)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक) + शस् (अव्यय-प्रत्यय)
• Form: प्रकार/परिमाणवाचक-अव्यय (in thousands; by thousands)

Speaker

An unnamed man (narrating the gathering for darśana)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: the brāhmaṇa interlocutor

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Hundreds and thousands of sages with matted hair and deer-skins (or simple cloth), carrying kamaṇḍalus, converge toward the deity’s shrine, faces intent on darśana.

Characters & Entities

• Munis
• Deva (unnamed Lord)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Darśana of the deity is a central aim of tīrtha-yātrā, and disciplined vows (vrata) support spiritual attainment.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse refers to the gathering place of the yātrā; the exact tīrtha is supplied by the broader adhyāya context.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The practice implied is vrata (disciplined observance) undertaken to become fit for divine darśana.