Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 32

Devanagari script

अत्रस्थस्य प्रभावो यस्तव पर्वत नंदन । मद्वाक्यात्तत्र संस्थस्य कोटिसंख्यो भविष्यति

Transliteration

atrasthasya prabhāvo yastava parvata naṃdana | madvākyāttatra saṃsthasya koṭisaṃkhyo bhaviṣyati

Translation

O Nandana, Sohn des Berges, die geistige Kraft, die dir eigen ist, solange du hier verweilst—durch mein Wort selbst—wird für den, der an jenem Ort fest gegründet bleibt, millionenfach werden.

Word by Word

• atra-sthasya: of one who is here / of the resident here
• atra-sthasya: Sambandha (Genitive qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: atra (अव्यय) + stha (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)
• Form: Samāsa: avyayībhāva/tatpuruṣa sense ‘situated here’; Puṃliṅga (Masculine/Generic), Ṣaṣṭhī-vibhakti (Genitive, 6th), Ekavacana (Singular)

• prabhāvaḥ: power / efficacy
• prabhāvaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (Masculine), Prathamā-vibhakti (Nominative, 1st), Ekavacana (Singular)

• yaḥ: which / who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक सर्वनाम)
• Form: Sarvanāma (Relative pronoun), Puṃliṅga (Masculine), Prathamā-vibhakti (Nominative, 1st), Ekavacana (Singular)

• tava: your
• tava: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक सर्वनाम)
• Form: Sarvanāma (Pronoun), Ṣaṣṭhī-vibhakti (Genitive, 6th), Ekavacana (Singular)

• parvata: O mountain
• parvata: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parvata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (Masculine), Sambodhana (Vocative), Ekavacana (Singular)

• nandana: O delighting one / O son (of the mountain)
• nandana: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nandana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (Masculine), Sambodhana (Vocative), Ekavacana (Singular)

• mat-vākyāt: from my words / by my statement
• mat-vākyāt: Apādāna (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mad (प्रातिपदिक सर्वनाम) + vākya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Samāsa: ṣaṣṭhī-tatpuruṣa ‘from my statement/word’; Napuṃsakaliṅga (Neuter), Pañcamī-vibhakti (Ablative, 5th), Ekavacana (Singular)

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; deśa-avyaya (locative adverb)

• saṃsthasya: of one who stays there
• saṃsthasya: Sambandha (Genitive qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: saṃ-√sthā (धातु) → saṃstha (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Present participial/derived adjective ‘standing/being situated’; Puṃliṅga (Masculine/Generic), Ṣaṣṭhī-vibhakti (Genitive, 6th), Ekavacana (Singular)

• koṭi-saṃkhyaḥ: counted in crores / of crore-number
• koṭi-saṃkhyaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective of prabhāvaḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: koṭi (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃkhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Samāsa: tatpuruṣa ‘having number of crores’; Puṃliṅga (Masculine), Prathamā-vibhakti (Nominative, 1st), Ekavacana (Singular)

• bhaviṣyati: will be
• bhaviṣyati: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: Luṭ-lakāra (Simple Future), Prathama-puruṣa (3rd person), Ekavacana (Singular), Parasmaipada

Speaker

Indra (Śakra) (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Indra proclaims that the mountain’s inherent potency, when relocated, becomes millionfold for those who remain there—visualized as a radiant aura expanding outward, enveloping pilgrims who sit in meditation within the kṣetra.

Characters & Entities

• Indra (implied)
• Parvata-nandana (mountain-born)
• Prabhāva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Faithful residence in a sanctified place magnifies spiritual benefit; divine sanction (a deva’s word) confirms the tīrtha’s extraordinary efficacy.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The immediate tīrtha-region described in Nāgara Khaṇḍa, Adhyāya 9, whose prabhāva is being proclaimed to the mountain-born figure.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse emphasizes ‘staying/abiding’ (saṃsthāna) as the practice; no separate snāna/dāna/japa is explicitly stated.