Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 143

Devanagari script

षष्टित्रिंशत्सहस्राणि ग्रामाणां कौंकणे विदुः । चतुर्दशशतं द्वे च विंशतीलघुकौंकणम्

Transliteration

ṣaṣṭitriṃśatsahasrāṇi grāmāṇāṃ kauṃkaṇe viduḥ | caturdaśaśataṃ dve ca viṃśatīlaghukauṃkaṇam

Translation

കോങ്കണത്തിൽ മുപ്പത്താറായിരം ഗ്രാമങ്ങളുണ്ടെന്ന് അവർ അറിയുന്നു; ‘ലഘുകോങ്കണം’ എന്ന പ്രദേശത്ത് ആയിരത്തി നാലുനൂറ്റി ഇരുപത് (ഗ്രാമങ്ങൾ) ഉണ്ടെന്ന് പറയുന്നു.

Word by Word

• षष्टित्रिंशत्सहस्राणि: thirty-six thousand
• षष्टित्रिंशत्सहस्राणि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: षष्टि (प्रातिपदिक) + त्रिंशत् (प्रातिपदिक) + सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), बहुवचन — Nom./Acc. Plural; समासः: तत्पुरुष (षष्टि-त्रिंशत्-सहस्र = 36,000)

• ग्रामाणाम्: of villages
• ग्रामाणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ग्राम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन — Genitive Plural

• कौंकणे: in Konkan
• कौंकणे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौंकण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन — Locative Singular

• विदुः: they know/state
• विदुः: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: विद् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन — ‘they know’ (here: ‘they state/consider’)

• चतुर्दशशतम्: fourteen hundred
• चतुर्दशशतम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतुर्दश (प्रातिपदिक) + शत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन — Nom./Acc. Singular; समासः: तत्पुरुष (चतुर्दश-शत = 1400)

• द्वे: two
• द्वे: Sankhya (Number/संख्या)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्वि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), द्विवचन — Nom./Acc. Dual (numeral: two)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• विंशति: twenty
• विंशति: Sankhya (Number/संख्या)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विंशति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन — Nom./Acc. Singular (numeral: twenty)

• लघुकौंकणम्: Laghukonkan (the ‘smaller’ Konkan)
• लघुकौंकणम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लघु (प्रातिपदिक) + कौंकण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन — Nom./Acc. Singular; समासः: कर्मधारय (लघुः कौंकणः = ‘small Konkan’)

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) (deduced from Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative convention)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Koṅkaṇa (regional kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Unspecified

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A long coastline with palm groves and estuaries labeled ‘Koṅkaṇa’, filled with many village dots; a smaller inset coastal strip labeled ‘Laghukoṅkaṇa’ with a precise smaller count (1420), suggesting administrative sub-division.

Characters & Entities

• Koṅkaṇa
• Laghukoṅkaṇa
• grāma (villages)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Purāṇa frames the land itself as sacred—mapping regions and settlements as part of a dhārmic vision of pilgrimage and consecrated geography.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is named; the verse praises the sacred landscape of Koṅkaṇa and its sub-region Laghukoṅkaṇa through enumeration.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None is stated in this verse; it is a geographical-accounting (saṅkhyā) passage.