Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 51

Devanagari script

तन्मध्ये सुमह्द्वीपं श्वेतं नाम सुनिश्चितम् । रम्यकः पर्वतस्तत्र शतशृंगोमितद्रुमः

Transliteration

tanmadhye sumahdvīpaṃ śvetaṃ nāma suniścitam | ramyakaḥ parvatastatra śataśṛṃgomitadrumaḥ

Translation

En son milieu repose une île immense, assurément nommée Śveta, l’Île Blanche. Là se dresse la montagne charmante Ramyaka, aux cent sommets et aux arbres innombrables.

Word by Word

• tat-madhye: in the middle of that
• tat-madhye: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + madhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन (loc sg): ‘in its midst’

• su-mahat-dvīpam: a very great island
• su-mahat-dvīpam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: su (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + mahat (प्रातिपदिक) + dvīpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘very great island’

• śvetam: white
• śvetam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śveta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण

• nāma: by name
• nāma: Sambandha (Name marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nāman (प्रातिपदिक) / nāma (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (name-indicator): नाम = ‘by name’

• suniścitam: well-established
• suniścitam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su + ni-√ci (चि धातु) → niścita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘well-determined/definite’

• ramyakaḥ: Ramyaka (name)
• ramyakaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ramyaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; (नाम) ‘Ramyaka’

• parvataḥ: mountain
• parvataḥ: Apposition (Samanadhikarana/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parvata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (locative adverb): तत्र

• śata-śṛṅga-umita-drumaḥ: having hundred peaks and huge trees
• śata-śṛṅga-umita-drumaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śata (संख्या) + śṛṅga (प्रातिपदिक) + umita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक) + druma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः: ‘whose trees are measured by (i.e., as high as) hundred peaks’ / ‘having hundred peaks and immense trees’ (पाठ-सम्भव-समास)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual; likely Skanda in Nāgara-khaṇḍa tīrtha discourse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Śveta-dvīpa (cosmic tīrtha realm)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A luminous white island at the center of a cosmic ocean; the verdant Ramyaka mountain rises with a crown of a hundred peaks, dense forests stretching endlessly.

Characters & Entities

• Śveta-dvīpa
• Ramyaka-parvata

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred space is portrayed as divinely ordered; contemplating such pure realms supports devotion and reverence for tīrthas.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Śveta-dvīpa and the Ramyaka mountain region are introduced as a sanctified, exemplary sacred landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse functions as a mahatmya-style description of the holy terrain.