Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 55

Devanagari script

अपि वर्षशतानारी स्नात्वा कुण्डे सुतप्रदे । अटेश्वरं ततः पश्येच्छिवभक्तिपरायणा

Transliteration

api varṣaśatānārī snātvā kuṇḍe sutaprade | aṭeśvaraṃ tataḥ paśyecchivabhaktiparāyaṇā

Translation

Même une femme demeurée (sans enfant) durant cent ans—après s’être baignée dans le bassin qui donne des fils—doit ensuite contempler Aṭeśvara, tout entière vouée à la Śiva-bhakti.

Word by Word

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अपि = even/also (particle)

• varṣa: year
• varṣa: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद-नामपद, नपुंसकलिङ्ग

• śata: hundred
• śata: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद-नामपद, नपुंसकलिङ्ग

• anārī: a long-childless woman (for a hundred years)
• anārī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anārī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः: varṣa-śata-anārī (तत्पुरुषः; ‘वर्षशतं यावत् अनार्य/असन्तानिका’—contextually ‘childless woman for a hundred years’)

• snātvā: having bathed
• snātvā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √snā (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), ‘having bathed’

• kuṇḍe: in the pond
• kuṇḍe: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kuṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• suta: son/child
• suta: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: suta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद-नामपद, पुंलिङ्ग

• prade: in the son-giving (pond)
• prade: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prada (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; समासः: suta-prada (तत्पुरुषः), ‘kuṇḍe’ इति विशेषण

• aṭeśvaram: Aṭeśvara (Śiva)
• aṭeśvaram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṭeśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, क्रम/अपादानार्थक (then/from there)

• paśyet: should see
• paśyet: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dṛś (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• śiva: Śiva
• śiva: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद-नामपद, पुंलिङ्ग

• bhakti: devotion
• bhakti: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhakti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद-नामपद, स्त्रीलिङ्ग

• parāyaṇā: devoted/intent on
• parāyaṇā: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parāyaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः: śiva-bhakti-parāyaṇa (तत्पुरुषः)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Sutapradā-kuṇḍa; Aṭeśvara

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Brāhmaṇa interlocutor(s) in tīrtha-māhātmya frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A long-childless woman descends steps into a sacred pond, performs snāna with folded hands, then walks to the shrine for Aṭeśvara darśana, carrying offerings; her face shifts from sorrow to hope.

Characters & Entities

• Aṭeśvara
• suta-prada kuṇḍa (son-bestowing pond)
• Śiva-bhakti

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Tīrtha-snāna joined with Śiva-darśana and devotion is presented as transformative, even in seemingly impossible life conditions.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The suta-prada kuṇḍa and Aṭeśvara within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Bathe in the suta-prada kuṇḍa and then take darśana of Aṭeśvara with Śiva-bhakti.