Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

पार्वतीं बिल्ववृक्षस्थां लक्ष्मीं च तुलसीगताम् । आदौ सर्वं वृक्षमयं पूर्वं विश्वमजायत

Transliteration

pārvatīṃ bilvavṛkṣasthāṃ lakṣmīṃ ca tulasīgatām | ādau sarvaṃ vṛkṣamayaṃ pūrvaṃ viśvamajāyata

Translation

Ils virent Pārvatī demeurant dans l’arbre Bilva, et Lakṣmī résidant dans la Tulasī. Au commencement, en vérité, l’antique univers naquit d’abord comme entièrement fait d’arbres.

Word by Word

• pārvatīm: Pārvatī
• pārvatīm: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pārvatī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• bilva-vṛkṣa-sthām: standing in/on a bilva tree
• bilva-vṛkṣa-sthām: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bilva (प्रातिपदिक) + vṛkṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + stha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; सप्तमी-तत्पुरुष (बिल्ववृक्षे स्थिता) विशेषण (pārvatīm)

• lakṣmīm: Lakṣmī
• lakṣmīm: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lakṣmī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

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

• tulasī-gatām: gone into/associated with tulasī
• tulasī-gatām: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tulasī (प्रातिपदिक) + gata (√gam; क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; द्वितीया/सप्तमी-तत्पुरुषार्थ (तुलसीं गता/तुलस्यां गता) क्त-कृदन्त; विशेषण (lakṣmīm)

• ādau: in the beginning
• ādau: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; कालाधिकरण (in the beginning)

• sarvam: everything
• sarvam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सर्वनामवत्

• vṛkṣa-mayam: made of trees
• vṛkṣa-mayam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vṛkṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + maya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तद्धितार्थ-तत्पुरुष (वृक्षमय = made of trees) विशेषण (sarvam)

• pūrvam: formerly
• pūrvam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: pūrva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक (formerly/at first)

• viśvam: the world
• viśvam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• ajāyata: was born/arose
• ajāyata: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jan (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद (जायते)

Speaker

Deductive (Tīrthamāhātmya narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa; exact speaker not in snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Bilva-vṛkṣa & Tulasī-vana (within Mandara grove)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: In a luminous grove, a bilva tree bears the presence of Pārvatī—gentle, motherly, seated or subtly emerging from the trunk; nearby a tulasī plant radiates Lakṣmī’s auspiciousness; the devas witness the grove as a primordial, tree-made cosmos.

Characters & Entities

• Pārvatī
• Bilva
• Lakṣmī
• Tulasī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred trees are living abodes of divinity; reverence to them is reverence to the Goddess and Lakṣmī.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader setting is the Tīrthamāhātmya of Nāgarakhaṇḍa (Adhyāya 247), with emphasis on sacred trees (bilva, tulasī) rather than a named water-tīrtha in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicit prescription: honor and worship sacred trees associated with deities (bilva for Devī/Śiva traditions; tulasī for Viṣṇu/Lakṣmī traditions).