Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

ततो बलाहको राजा सर्वदेवसमन्वितः । स्थापयामास तल्लिंगं सर्वदेवसमीपतः

Transliteration

tato balāhako rājā sarvadevasamanvitaḥ | sthāpayāmāsa talliṃgaṃ sarvadevasamīpataḥ

Translation

Alors le roi Balāhaka, entouré de tous les dieux, établit ce Liṅga sacré en la présence même et tout près de l’assemblée entière des divinités.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: thereafter
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) — ‘ततः’ = ‘thereafter/from that’

• balāhakaḥ: Balāhaka
• balāhakaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: balāhaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन — proper name

• rājā: the king
• rājā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• sarva-deva-samanvitaḥ: accompanied by all the gods
• sarva-deva-samanvitaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + deva (प्रातिपदिक) + samanvita (कृदन्त; सम्+अन्वि/इ √i?; past participle used adjectivally)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण — ‘सर्वदेवैः समन्वितः’ (instrumental sense)

• sthāpayāmāsa: installed / caused to be set up
• sthāpayāmāsa: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √sthā (धाातु) + णिच् (causative) + लिट् (परस्मैपद)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; णिजन्त (causative) — ‘caused to be established/installed’

• tat: that
• tat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; विशेषण

• liṅgam: liṅga (emblem)
• liṅgam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: liṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• sarva-deva-samīpataḥ: near all the gods
• sarva-deva-samīpataḥ: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + deva (प्रातिपदिक) + samīpatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (स्थानवाचक) — ‘सर्वदेवानां समीपतः’ (ablatival/locative sense: ‘near’)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa continuing the account)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dharmāraṇya (contextual kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: King Balāhaka, surrounded by a radiant circle of devas, installs a newly consecrated liṅga on a pedestal within a forest-kshetra; offerings, lamps, and sacred vessels are arranged as celestial witnesses hover above.

Characters & Entities

• Balāhaka
• Sarvadeva (all the gods)
• Liṅga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Installing a Śiva-liṅga with devotion—especially in a sanctified place—becomes a deity-attested act that radiates enduring merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dharmāraṇya (the sacred forest-section) is being praised as a powerful setting for Liṅga-pratiṣṭhā.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Liṅga-pratiṣṭhā (formal installation/establishment of the Liṅga) in the presence of the gods.