Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 11

Devanagari script

अथाष्टषष्टिविप्राणां तत्र मध्ये नृपोत्तमः । अष्टषष्टिगृहाण्येव चकार सुबृहंति च

Transliteration

athāṣṭaṣaṣṭiviprāṇāṃ tatra madhye nṛpottamaḥ | aṣṭaṣaṣṭigṛhāṇyeva cakāra subṛhaṃti ca

Translation

Then, in the midst of that place, the best of kings built exactly sixty-eight houses for the sixty-eight brāhmaṇas—truly spacious dwellings.

Word by Word

• अथ: then
• अथ: Discourse marker (अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: मङ्गल/अनन्तरार्थक-अव्यय (particle: ‘then/now’)

• अष्टषष्टिविप्राणाम्: of sixty-six brahmins
• अष्टषष्टिविप्राणाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्टषष्टि (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + विप्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन; tatpuruṣa: ‘अष्टषष्टेः विप्राः’ = ‘of sixty-six brahmins’

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Deśa-adhikaraṇa (देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of place)

• मध्ये: in the middle
• मध्ये: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन

• नृपोत्तमः: the best king
• नृपोत्तमः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप (प्रातिपदिक) + उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता), एकवचन; कर्मधारय: ‘उत्तमो नृपः’

• अष्टषष्टिगृहाणि: sixty-six houses
• अष्टषष्टिगृहाणि: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्टषष्टि (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + गृह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), बहुवचन; tatpuruṣa: ‘अष्टषष्टेः गृहाणि’ = ‘sixty-six houses’

• एव: indeed; just
• एव: Emphasis (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• चकार: he made; he built
• चकार: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• सुबृहन्ति: very large
• सुबृहन्ति: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + बृहन्त् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; विशेषणं ‘गृहाणि’; कर्मधारय: ‘सु-बृहन्ति’ = ‘very large’

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction)

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narrator)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: In the city’s center, a planned cluster of sixty-eight spacious houses is presented to sixty-eight brāhmaṇas; the king oversees the allotment; families receive keys/ritual water-pot; a sense of orderly benefaction and sanctity.

Characters & Entities

• king (nṛpottama)
• sixty-eight brāhmaṇas (aṣṭaṣaṣṭi vipra)
• houses (gṛha)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Providing stable residences to the dharmic community is a high form of charity and a foundation for continuous worship and teaching.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The housing is built within the sacred kṣetra described in Nāgarakhaṇḍa, Tīrthamāhātmya, Adhyāya 113; this verse does not name the tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Gṛha-dāna/settlement support is implied as a dharmic act; no formal ritual steps are detailed in this verse.