Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 63

Devanagari script

ततश्चैव जलाहारा यावद्वर्षशतानि षट् । वायुभक्षा बभूवाथ सहस्रं परिवत्सरान्

Transliteration

tataścaiva jalāhārā yāvadvarṣaśatāni ṣaṭ | vāyubhakṣā babhūvātha sahasraṃ parivatsarān

Translation

Ensuite, elle ne vécut que d’eau pendant six cents ans; puis, se nourrissant d’air seul, elle persévéra durant mille années entières.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; ‘then’

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction: and)

• eva: indeed
• eva: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण (particle: indeed/just)

• jalāhārā: living on water
• jalāhārā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jala (प्रातिपदिक) + āhāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा एकवचन; ‘जलम् आहारः यस्याः/या’ (one whose food is water)

• yāvat: for as long as; up to
• yāvat: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; परिमाण/अवधिवाचक (as long as; up to)

• varṣaśatāni: hundreds of years
• varṣaśatāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + śata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचन; ‘वर्षाणां शतानि’ (hundreds of years)

• ṣaṭ: six
• ṣaṭ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣaṭ (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्या; नपुंसक-बहुवचनस्य विशेषणम् (numeral: six)

• vāyu: air
• vāyu: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāyu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; समासे पूर्वपद (wind/air)

• bhakṣā: eating; subsisting on
• bhakṣā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा एकवचन; ‘भक्ष’ (eating/feeding) — समासे उत्तरपद; (vāyu-bhakṣā = air-eater)

• babhūva: became
• babhūva: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: लिट्; प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• atha: then
• atha: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनन्तरार्थक (then/thereupon)

• sahasram: a thousand
• sahasram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; संख्या (a thousand)

• parivatsarān: years (in succession)
• parivatsarān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pari + vatsara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया बहुवचन; ‘परिवत्सर’ = full years/years in succession

Speaker

Narrator (contextual; not explicit in this verse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The maiden-ascetic becomes increasingly emaciated yet luminous; first shown sipping water from a leaf-cup near a sacred pool, then seated in deep meditation with visible breath as a subtle aura, suggesting vāyu-āhāra. Time is conveyed through changing seasons around her while she remains unmoving.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Steadfast tapas, sustained over time with disciplined restraint, is portrayed as a force that ripens divine grace.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse sits within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya framework, but the specific tīrtha name is not stated in this single shloka.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No external rite is prescribed; the verse describes progressive ascetic subsistence (jala-āhāra, then vāyu-bhakṣa) as a form of tapas.