Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 13

Devanagari script

प्लक्षमूले ततस्तस्य वेगेनापहृतं बलात् । तद्रक्तं तेन संपूर्णं ततस्तेन महानदी

Transliteration

plakṣamūle tatastasya vegenāpahṛtaṃ balāt | tadraktaṃ tena saṃpūrṇaṃ tatastena mahānadī

Translation

Puis, au pied du plakṣa, son sang fut emporté de force par le courant impétueux. Empli de ce sang, de là naquit un grand fleuve.

Word by Word

• प्लक्षमूले: at the root of the plakṣa tree
• प्लक्षमूले: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्लक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + मूल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन — Locative singular; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (प्लक्षस्य मूलम्)

• ततः: then/from there
• ततः: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रम/हेतु) — adverb 'then/from there'

• तस्य: of him/of that
• तस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन — Genitive singular

• वेगेन: by force/with speed
• वेगेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन — Instrumental singular

• अपहृतम्: was carried away
• अपहृतम्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अप-√हृ (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — past passive participle (carried away)

• बलात्: by force
• बलात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन — Ablative singular; adverbial sense 'by force'

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — 'that' (referring to water/flow)

• रक्तम्: red/bloody
• रक्तम्: Kriya-anvaya (Predicate complement)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — predicate adjective 'reddened/bloody'

• तेन: by that/with that
• तेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंस/पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन — Instrumental singular

• संपूर्णम्: completely filled
• संपूर्णम्: Kriya-anvaya (Predicate complement)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संपूर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — predicate adjective

• ततः: then
• ततः: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रम) — 'then'

• तेन: by that
• तेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन — Instrumental singular

• महानदी: the great river
• महानदी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + नदी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन — Nominative singular; कर्मधारयः (महती नदी)

Speaker

Sūta (deduced from immediate chapter context; explicit in 174.1)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Plakṣa-mūla-tīrtha (as a sub-spot within the Sarasvatī cycle)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: brāhmaṇas/dvijas

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At the base of a plakṣa tree, a surging current sweeps away blood; the river grows vast and powerful, depicted as a crimson-tinged flood transforming into a majestic nādī.

Characters & Entities

• Plakṣa (tree)
• Sarasvatī (context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic sacred geography treats natural features—especially rivers—as divinely charged events, inviting reverence and pilgrimage-minded remembrance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Śrīhāṭakeśvara-kṣetra context within the Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya, where the Sarasvatī-related episode is narrated.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly in this verse; it is etiological (explaining the river’s arising).