Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 258

Devanagari script

इति श्रीस्कान्दे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां षष्ठे नागरखण्डे हाटकेश्वरक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये शेषशाय्युपाख्याने ब्रह्मनारदसंवादे चातुर्मास्यमाहात्म्ये हरशापो नामाष्टपंचाशदुत्तरद्विशततमोऽध्यायः

Transliteration

iti śrīskānde mahāpurāṇa ekāśītisāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ ṣaṣṭhe nāgarakhaṇḍe hāṭakeśvarakṣetramāhātmye śeṣaśāyyupākhyāne brahmanāradasaṃvāde cāturmāsyamāhātmye haraśāpo nāmāṣṭapaṃcāśaduttaradviśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

Ainsi, dans le Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa—au sein de la saṃhitā de quatre-vingt-un mille śloka—voici le chapitre 258, nommé « Haraśāpa », dans le sixième Khaṇḍa (Nāgara), dans le Māhātmya du champ sacré de Hāṭakeśvara, dans le récit de Śeṣaśāyy, dans le dialogue de Brahmā et Nārada, au cœur de la grandeur de l’observance du Cāturmāsya.

Word by Word

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Discourse marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (indeclinable), इत्यादि-समाप्तिसूचक (quotative/end marker)

• śrī-skānde: in the revered Skanda (Purāṇa)
• śrī-skānde: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śrī (प्रातिपदिक) + skanda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: कर्मधारय ‘श्री-स्कन्द’ (revered Skanda); पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• mahā-purāṇe: in the Mahāpurāṇa
• mahā-purāṇe: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + purāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: कर्मधारय ‘महापुराण’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• ekāśīti-sāhasryām: in the (collection) of eighty-one thousand (verses)
• ekāśīti-sāhasryām: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ekāśīti (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + sāhasrī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: द्विगु (numerical) ‘एकाशीतिसाहस्री’ (of eighty-one thousand); स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular); विशेषण (qualifying ‘saṃhitāyām’)

• saṃhitāyām: in the Saṃhitā
• saṃhitāyām: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃhitā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• ṣaṣṭhe: in the sixth
• ṣaṣṭhe: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣaṣṭha (क्रमवाचक-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्रमवाचक (ordinal), पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular); विशेषण (qualifying ‘khaṇḍe’)

• nāgara-khaṇḍe: in the Nāgara-khaṇḍa section
• nāgara-khaṇḍe: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāgara (प्रातिपदिक) + khaṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष ‘नागरखण्ड’; पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra-māhātmye: in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara sacred field
• hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra-māhātmye: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hāṭakeśvara (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक) + māhātmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष (nested) ‘हाटकेश्वर-क्षेत्र-माहात्म्य’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• śeṣaśāyy-upākhyāne: in the episode called ‘Śeṣaśāyī’
• śeṣaśāyy-upākhyāne: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śeṣaśāyī (प्रातिपदिक) + upākhyāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष ‘शेषशाय्युपाख्यान’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• brahma-nārada-saṃvāde: in the dialogue of Brahmā and Nārada
• brahma-nārada-saṃvāde: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक) + nārada (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃvāda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष ‘ब्रह्म-नारद-संवाद’; पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• cāturmāsya-māhātmye: in the Māhātmya of Cāturmāsya
• cāturmāsya-māhātmye: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cāturmāsya (प्रातिपदिक) + māhātmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष ‘चातुर्मास्य-माहात्म्य’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular)

• hara-śāpaḥ: ‘Hara’s curse’
• hara-śāpaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hara (प्रातिपदिक) + śāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष ‘हरशाप’; पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (singular)

• nāma: named
• nāma: Sambandha (Appositive marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nāma (अव्यय/निपात)
• Form: अव्यय (particle), नामनिर्देशक (naming particle)

• aṣṭa-paṃcāśad-uttara-dviśatatamaḥ: the 258th
• aṣṭa-paṃcāśad-uttara-dviśatatamaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭa (संख्या) + paṃcāśat (संख्या) + uttara (प्रातिपदिक) + dviśata (संख्या) + tama (तमप्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: समास: द्विगु/संख्यासमास (numerical) ‘अष्टपञ्चाशदुत्तरद्विशततम’ = 258th; पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (singular); विशेषण (qualifying ‘adhyāyaḥ’)

• adhyāyaḥ: chapter
• adhyāyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adhyāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (singular)

Speaker

Textual colophon (chapter closing formula)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Audience/reciters; internally Nārada

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A manuscript-ending scene: palm-leaf folios, a scribe, and a small vignette of Brahmā teaching Nārada; a temple silhouette labeled Hāṭakeśvara; the chapter title ‘Haraśāpa’.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda Purāṇa
• Nāgara Khaṇḍa
• Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra
• Śeṣaśāyy-upākhyāna
• Brahmā
• Nārada
• Cāturmāsya
• Hara (Śiva)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

As a colophon, it primarily preserves textual context—locating the teaching within a sacred-site and vow-centered framework.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra is explicitly named as the sacred geography focus.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Cāturmāsya is referenced as the observance whose greatness frames the dialogue, though no procedure is detailed in the colophon itself.