Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 25

Devanagari script

तस्यैवं वर्तमानस्य तपःस्थस्य महात्मनः । जगाम सुमहान्कालः कृच्छ्रे तपसि वर्ततः

Transliteration

tasyaivaṃ vartamānasya tapaḥsthasya mahātmanaḥ | jagāma sumahānkālaḥ kṛcchre tapasi vartataḥ

Translation

Tandis que ce grand être demeurait ainsi, ferme dans l’austérité, un temps immensément long s’écoula, alors qu’il persévérait dans une pénitence difficile.

Word by Word

• tasya: of him
• tasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन

• evam: thus
• evam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक

• vartamānasya: while continuing/being engaged
• vartamānasya: Sambandha (Genitive qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vṛt (धातु) → vartamāna (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (present participle/शतृ); पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; विशेषण

• tapaḥsthasya: abiding in austerity
• tapaḥsthasya: Sambandha (Genitive qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tapas (प्रातिपदिक) + stha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सप्तमी-तत्पुरुष (tapasi sthitaḥ = stationed in penance); पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; विशेषण

• mahātmanaḥ: of the great-souled one
• mahātmanaḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + ātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय (mahān ātmā yasya/mahātmā); पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन

• jagāma: passed, went by
• jagāma: Kriyā (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• su-mahān: very great
• su-mahān: Karta (Subject qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + mahant (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (intensified by su-)

• kālaḥ: time
• kālaḥ: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• kṛcchre: with hardship, painfully
• kṛcchre: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kṛcchra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययप्रयोग (locative used adverbially); क्रियाविशेषण

• tapasi: in penance
• tapasi: Adhikaraṇa (Locative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tapas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• vartataḥ: of (him) who was engaged (in it)
• vartataḥ: Sambandha (Genitive qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vṛt (धातु) → vartamāna/वर्तत् (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (present participle/शतृ); पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; विशेषण

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narrator in the Tīrthamāhātmya context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣi-assembly (frame implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The ascetic Dānava remains in a fixed posture near a liṅga-shrine; seasons pass—sun, moon, rains—signifying a very long time and severe penance.

Characters & Entities

• Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra
• tapas
• kāla (time)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Spiritual attainments mature through sustained discipline, not haste.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra remains the implied sacred setting for the austerities.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Continued, difficult tapas (austerity) over a long period.