Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 10

Devanagari script

समुदायः समस्तानां यथा चैव प्रजायते । तदा तालत्रयं यच्च मध्यस्थः संप्रयच्छति

Transliteration

samudāyaḥ samastānāṃ yathā caiva prajāyate | tadā tālatrayaṃ yacca madhyasthaḥ saṃprayacchati

Translation

Et lorsque l’accord unanime de tous est établi, alors le médiateur confère aussi ce «tāla triple».

Word by Word

• samudāyaḥ: assembly/collection
• samudāyaḥ: Kartā (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: samudāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचनम्

• samastānām: of all
• samastānām: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: samasta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचनम्; विशेषणम् (समस्त = all)

• yathā: as, in the manner that
• yathā: Prakāra (Manner marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (उपमान/प्रकार) = ‘as/how’

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक)

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Avadhāraṇa (Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निश्चय/अवधारण) = emphatic particle

• prajāyate: arises/comes into being
• prajāyate: Kriyā (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-jan (प्र-जन्-धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd), एकवचनम्; आत्मनेपदम्

• tadā: then
• tadā: Kāla (Time)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (कालवाचक) = ‘then/at that time’

• tālatrayam: the three claps/three beats
• tālatrayam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāla (प्रातिपदिक) + traya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचनम्; समासः = द्विगु (त्रयः तालाः = three claps/strikes)

• yat: which
• yat: Karma (Object, relative)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचनम्; सम्बन्धक (relative)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय)

• madhyasthaḥ: the mediator
• madhyasthaḥ: Kartā (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: madhyastha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचनम्

• saṃprayacchati: gives/bestows
• saṃprayacchati: Kriyā (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-pra-yam (सम्-प्र-यम्-धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd), एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

Bhartṛyajña

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A reconciled assembly: disputants and brāhmaṇas now aligned; the mediator presents a symbolic ‘threefold tāla’—depicted as three rhythmic claps/strikes, or three marked tokens—signaling formal settlement.

Characters & Entities

• samudāya (accord)
• madhyastha
• tālatraya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Harmony and collective resolution are dharmic goals; ritual tokens support orderly reconciliation in sacred settings.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The immediate glorification is of the tīrtha-assembly’s dharmic mechanism (Brahmaśālā culture), not a named location.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Upon achieving consensus, the mediator gives the ‘tālatraya’—a formal threefold token associated with the decision process.