Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 25

Devanagari script

गुह्य स्थानस्थितैर्वक्त्रैरेकाश्चान्या हृदिस्थितैः । पार्श्वसंस्थैः स्थिताश्चान्या अन्याः पृष्ठिगतैर्मुखैः

Transliteration

guhya sthānasthitairvaktrairekāścānyā hṛdisthitaiḥ | pārśvasaṃsthaiḥ sthitāścānyā anyāḥ pṛṣṭhigatairmukhaiḥ

Translation

Certaines avaient leurs visages placés en des lieux cachés ; d’autres, sur la poitrine. Certaines les portaient sur les flancs, et d’autres, sur le dos.

Word by Word

• guhya: in the secret part (genitals)
• guhya: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: guhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; स्थानवाचक

• sthāna-sthitaiḥ: situated in (that) place
• sthāna-sthitaiḥ: Instrumental/Means (Karaṇa/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sthāna (प्रातिपदिक) + sthita (√sthā धातु, क्त-कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (‘situated in a place’); क्त-कृदन्त-आधारित विशेषणम् (vaktraiḥ)

• vaktraiḥ: with faces/mouths
• vaktraiḥ: Instrumental/Means (Karaṇa/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vaktra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन

• ekāḥ: some (as ‘ones’)
• ekāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; संख्यावाचक-विशेषणम् (elliptic ‘mātaraḥ’)

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

• anyāḥ: others
• anyāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• hṛdi-sthitaiḥ: situated in the heart
• hṛdi-sthitaiḥ: Instrumental/Means (Karaṇa/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: hṛd (प्रातिपदिक) + sthita (√sthā धातु, क्त-कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (‘situated in the heart’); विशेषणम् (vaktraiḥ)

• pārśva-saṃsthaiḥ: located at the side
• pārśva-saṃsthaiḥ: Instrumental/Means (Karaṇa/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pārśva (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃstha (√sthā धातु, उपसर्ग-सम्; क्त/निष्ठा-आधारित प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (‘located at the side’); विशेषणम् (implicit ‘mukhaiḥ/vaktraiḥ’)

• sthitāḥ: were situated
• sthitāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √sthā (स्था धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्ययान्त, past passive participle); स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्तृसम्बन्धे ‘standing/being situated’

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

• anyāḥ: others
• anyāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• anyāḥ: others
• anyāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• pṛṣṭhi-gataiḥ: located on the back
• pṛṣṭhi-gataiḥ: Instrumental/Means (Karaṇa/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pṛṣṭhi (प्रातिपदिक) + gata (√gam धातु, क्त-कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (‘gone to/located on the back’); विशेषणम् (mukhaiḥ)

• mukhaiḥ: with faces
• mukhaiḥ: Instrumental/Means (Karaṇa/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन

Speaker

Unspecified (narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya; likely Sūta)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kuṇḍa (name not specified in given verses)

Type: kund

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Mothers rise with faces not only on the head but in concealed places—on the chest, sides, and backs—creating an uncanny, all-surrounding vigilance around the kuṇḍa’s edge.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The text heightens the sense of sacred dread (bhaya-bhakti), implying that pilgrimage spaces can reveal extraordinary realities that test resolve and purity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

It is within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya (chapter 88), but the exact tīrtha is not specified in this excerpt.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is stated here.