Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 126

Devanagari script

औदुम्बर्या मध्यगेन दत्तं तालत्रयं तदा

Transliteration

audumbaryā madhyagena dattaṃ tālatrayaṃ tadā

Translation

Alors, en ce temps-là, fut accordé et mis à part un groupe de trois arbres tāla, avec un udumbara (figuier sacré) dressé au milieu.

Word by Word

• औदुम्बर्या: by Audumbarī
• औदुम्बर्या: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: audumbarī (औदुम्बरी प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; तृतीया; एकवचन (by/with the audumbarī [woman/one belonging to Udumbara])

• मध्यगेन: by the one in the middle
• मध्यगेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: madhyaga (मध्यग प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया; एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (मध्य + ग) ‘going/being in the middle’; विशेषण (qualifying an implied agent/means)

• दत्तम्: given
• दत्तम्: Karma/Predicate (Given—describing object)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dā (दा धातु) → दत्त (क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया; एकवचन (given)

• तालत्रयम्: a set of three tālas
• तालत्रयम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāla + traya (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया; एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (three tālas/palms)

• तदा: then
• तदा: Kriya-visheshana (Temporal adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक (then/at that time)

Speaker

Narrator (brief topographical/allocative note within the māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A small sacred grove: three tall tāla palms forming a triad, with a broad udumbara fig tree in the center; townsmen or officials ceremonially ‘set apart’ the land, placing boundary stones and tying sacred threads.

Characters & Entities

• Udumbara (fig tree)
• Tāla (palmyra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic sacred geography often sanctifies natural landmarks, turning trees and boundaries into remembered signs of dharma and place.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The description functions within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya’s place-setting in Nāgara-khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual; it records a spatial allotment/marker involving an udumbara and three tāla trees.