Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 42

Devanagari script

तेषां तु कोटिसंख्यानां दैत्यानां पंक्तिरास्थिता

Transliteration

teṣāṃ tu koṭisaṃkhyānāṃ daityānāṃ paṃktirāsthitā

Translation

En vérité, parmi ces Daitya comptés par crores, des rangées furent formées et mises en place.

Word by Word

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन

• तु: but, indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle: but/indeed)

• कोटिसंख्यानाम्: of those numbering crores
• कोटिसंख्यानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive qualifier/षष्ठी-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कोटि (प्रातिपदिक) + संख्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष: ‘कोटि-संख्याः’ = ‘numbering crores’; विशेषण (qualifier of दैत्यानाम्)

• दैत्यानाम्: of the Daityas
• दैत्यानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दैत्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• पंक्तिः: a row, a line
• पंक्तिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पंक्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• आस्थिता: was formed/was standing
• आस्थिता: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-√स्था (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि/भूतकृत् (past passive participle, क्त); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘stood/was formed’

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) addressing the sages (Mahēśvara-khaṇḍa narrative frame)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kedāra (Kedāranātha)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Dvijas

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Endless rows of daityas stretching across a valley floor beneath Kedāra peaks, arranged like a dark river of bodies; banners and weapons form repeating patterns.

Characters & Entities

• Daitya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even when adharma appears innumerable and organized, it is still finite before divine will and the moral order of the Purāṇas.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse does not name a tīrtha; it remains within the Kedāra-khaṇḍa narrative setting associated with Kedāranātha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it emphasizes the immense number and orderly arrangement of the daityas.