Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 54

Devanagari script

एतत्कृतयुगे प्रोक्तं मंत्रसाधनमुत्त मम् । सर्वेषां साधकानां च मया प्रोक्तं द्विजोत्तम

Transliteration

etatkṛtayuge proktaṃ maṃtrasādhanamutta mam | sarveṣāṃ sādhakānāṃ ca mayā proktaṃ dvijottama

Translation

Metode tertinggi dari sādhana mantra ini dinyatakan bagi Yuga Kṛta. Dan telah kuajarkan ini bagi semua sādhaka, wahai yang terbaik di antara para dvija.

Word by Word

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg)

• kṛta-yuge: in the Kṛta age
• kṛta-yuge: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛta (प्रातिपदिक) + yuga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), सप्तमी (Loc. 7), एकवचन (sg); तत्पुरुष: ‘in the Kṛta-yuga’

• proktam: taught/declared
• proktam: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया-विशेष)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra+vac (धातु) → prokta (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg)

• mantra-sādhanam: mantra-practice/means of mantra
• mantra-sādhanam: Apposition (Samānādhikaraṇa/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mantra (प्रातिपदिक) + sādhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg); तत्पुरुष: ‘means/practice of mantra’

• uttamam: excellent
• uttamam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg); (agreeing with mantrasādhanam)

• sarveṣām: of all
• sarveṣām: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m), षष्ठी (Gen. 6), बहुवचन (pl)

• sādhakānām: of practitioners
• sādhakānām: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sādhaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m), षष्ठी (Gen. 6), बहुवचन (pl)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चयार्थक (conjunction)

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Kartr-karana (Agent in passive/कर्ता-करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-प्रत्यय (1st person pronoun), तृतीया (Instr. 3), एकवचन (sg)

• proktam: taught/declared
• proktam: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया-विशेष)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra+vac (धातु) → prokta (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg)

• dvija-uttama: O best of Brahmins
• dvija-uttama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक) + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m), सम्बोधन (Voc. 8), एकवचन (sg); कर्मधारय: ‘best of the twice-born’

Speaker

Unspecified (addressing a dvija; likely a teacher/narrator within the episode)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Dvijottama

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic scene: Skanda as divine teacher addressing a venerable brāhmaṇa, with palm-leaf manuscripts and a calm sacred backdrop, indicating transmission of mantra-sādhana across ages.

Characters & Entities

• Kṛtayuga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Spiritual disciplines are framed by yuga-dharma; the tradition remembers an ideal standard in Kṛta Yuga.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching occurs within a tīrtha-glorifying narrative (Tīrthamāhātmya), with the named pīṭha emerging more explicitly later (e.g., Cित्रेश्वर-pīṭha).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Mantra-sādhana (disciplined mantra practice) as an ‘uttama’ method, contextualized by yuga.