Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 71

Devanagari script

आदौ कालः कालनाच्च लोकनायकनायकः । ततो लोका हि संजाताः सृष्टिश्च तदनंतरम्

Transliteration

ādau kālaḥ kālanācca lokanāyakanāyakaḥ | tato lokā hi saṃjātāḥ sṛṣṭiśca tadanaṃtaram

Translation

Au commencement étaient le Temps et le décompte (la mesure) du temps ; le Temps devint le souverain des souverains du monde. Ensuite les mondes prirent naissance, et la création suivit aussitôt.

Word by Word

• ādau: in the beginning
• ādau: Adhikaraṇa (Time-location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अव्ययीभावार्थे (in the beginning)

• kālaḥ: Time
• kālaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• kālanāt: from reckoning/measurement (of time)
• kālanāt: Hetu/Apādāna (Cause/Source/हेतु/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kālanā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय (conjunction)

• lokanāyakanāyakaḥ: the supreme leader of the world
• lokanāyakanāyakaḥ: Karta (Predicate nominative/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक) + nāyaka (प्रातिपदिक) + nāyaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (loka-nāyaka = leader of the world) + कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष (nāyaka-nāyaka = chief leader)

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Sequence/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तस्मात्-अर्थे (then/thereupon)

• lokāḥ: worlds
• lokāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle/emphasis)

• saṃjātāḥ: were born/arose
• saṃjātāḥ: Kriyā (Predicate participle/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-jan (जन् धातु)
• Form: भूतकृत्-प्रत्यय (past passive participle, क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; कर्तरि प्रयोगे (as predicate)

• sṛṣṭiḥ: creation
• sṛṣṭiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sṛṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय (conjunction)

• tad-anantaram: immediately after that
• tad-anantaram: Sambandha (Temporal adverb/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + anantara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अव्ययवत् प्रयोग (adverbial: immediately after that)

Speaker

Lomaśa

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kedāra (Kedāranātha)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic tableau: from a dark, formless beginning emerges Kāla as a sovereign principle; then layered worlds appear like concentric spheres, followed by the first stirrings of creation.

Characters & Entities

• Kāla

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Cosmic order begins with Time and its measurement, reminding practitioners that dharma aligns with an ordered universe.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kedārakhaṇḍa setting continues, though the verse focuses on universal origins rather than a localized tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it frames why calendars, observances, and sacred timings matter in Purāṇic practice.