Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 68

Devanagari script

साधुसाध्वित्यथोवाच तं सुभद्रोऽप्यहं तथा । दण्डवच्च प्रणमितो महीसागरसङ्गमम्

Transliteration

sādhusādhvityathovāca taṃ subhadro'pyahaṃ tathā | daṇḍavacca praṇamito mahīsāgarasaṅgamam

Translation

അപ്പോൾ സുഭദ്രൻ—“സാധു, സാധു” എന്നു പറഞ്ഞു; ഞാനും അതുപോലെ സമ്മതിച്ചു. തുടർന്ന് ദണ്ഡവത് പ്രണാമം ചെയ്ത് ഭൂമി-സമുദ്രങ്ങളുടെ പാവന സംഗമത്തെ നമസ്കരിച്ചു.

Word by Word

• sādhu: well done!
• sādhu: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sādhu (साधु प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः, प्रशंसावाचक (interjection of approval)

• sādhu: well done!
• sādhu: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sādhu (साधु प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः, पुनरुक्ति-प्रशंसा (repeated approval)

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Quotation marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय, उद्धरण/इत्यर्थे

• atha: then
• atha: Sambandha (Sequencer/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय, अनन्तरार्थक (then/thereupon)

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (वच् धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• tam: him
• tam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन, पुल्लिङ्ग

• subhadraḥ: Subhadra
• subhadraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: subhadra (सुभद्र प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन

• api: also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चय/अपि-अर्थे (also/even)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, उत्तमपुरुष, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• tathā: likewise
• tathā: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय, प्रकारार्थक (in that manner/so)

• daṇḍa-vat: like a stick (prostrate)
• daṇḍa-vat: Viśeṣaṇa (Manner/विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: daṇḍa (दण्ड प्रातिपदिक) + vat (वत् तद्धित)
• Form: अव्यय, उपमानार्थक (adverbial: 'like a staff')

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चय (conjunction 'and')

• praṇamitaḥ: having bowed/prostrated
• praṇamitaḥ: Karta (Agent as participant/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√nam (नम् धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle), पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• mahī-sāgara-saṅgamam: the confluence of land and ocean
• mahī-sāgara-saṅgamam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahī (मही) + sāgara (सागर) + saṅgama (सङ्गम)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (मह्याः सागरस्य च सङ्गमः/मह्या-सागरयोः सङ्गमः); पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator reporting Subhadra’s response (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mahī-sāgara-saṅgama

Type: sangam

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At a wide seashore where land meets the ocean, two pilgrims perform full prostration (daṇḍavat) facing the shimmering confluence; waves curl in, seabirds circle, and the horizon glows.

Characters & Entities

• Subhadra
• Mahī-sāgara-saṅgama

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Reverence to tīrthas—expressed through humble prostration—anchors the pilgrim in devotion and dharmic receptivity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Mahī-sāgara-saṅgama, a sacred meeting place of land and ocean.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Daṇḍavat praṇāma (full prostration) offered to the tīrtha-saṅgama.