Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 25

Devanagari script

अथ संचिंतयामास ध्यानं कृत्वा पितामहः । हरारिष्टं समाज्ञाय तत्सर्वं हृष्टरूपधृक्

Transliteration

atha saṃciṃtayāmāsa dhyānaṃ kṛtvā pitāmahaḥ | harāriṣṭaṃ samājñāya tatsarvaṃ hṛṣṭarūpadhṛk

Translation

Alors l’Aïeul (Brahmā) réfléchit, entrant en méditation; et, comprenant que le péril venait de Hara (Śiva), il prit un visage de joie devant l’ensemble des choses.

Word by Word

• अथ: then
• अथ: Sambandha (Discourse connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनन्तरार्थक

• संचिन्तयामास: he reflected; he considered
• संचिन्तयामास: Kriya (Main action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-चिन्त् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• ध्यानम्: meditation
• ध्यानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ध्यान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• कृत्वा: having done
• कृत्वा: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कृ (धातु) → कृत्वा (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: अव्ययकृदन्त; क्त्वान्त (gerund)

• पितामहः: Pitāmaha (Brahmā); the grandsire
• पितामहः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितामह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• हरारिष्टम्: the calamity caused by Hara (Śiva)
• हरारिष्टम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हर + अरिष्ट (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (हरस्य अरिष्टम्/हरकृतम् अरिष्टम्); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• समाज्ञाय: having understood; having ascertained
• समाज्ञाय: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-ज्ञा (धातु) → समाज्ञाय (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: अव्ययकृदन्त; क्त्वान्त (gerund)

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• सर्वम्: all; the whole
• सर्वम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (तत्-विशेषण)

• हृष्टरूपधृक्: one who bears a delighted form
• हृष्टरूपधृक्: Karta (Appositional subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हृष्ट + रूप + धृक् (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: बहुव्रीहिसमास (हृष्टं रूपं यस्य सः); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

Unspecified narrator (within Sūta’s ongoing narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Brahmā (Pitāmaha), seated in composed meditation amid the disturbed pavilion, opens his eyes with a serene, even delighted expression—having understood the ‘Hara-origin’ of the peril; surrounding figures begin to steady.

Characters & Entities

• Pitāmaha (Brahmā)
• Hara (Śiva)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Meditative discernment reveals divine causality; what seems like calamity can be a purposeful act leading to a higher dharmic outcome.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The focus remains the sacred yajña setting within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s tīrtha narrative; the verse does not specify the tīrtha name.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Dhyāna (meditative contemplation) is presented as Brahmā’s means to understand and respond to the crisis.