Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

ततो मध्याह्नसमये स्नानार्थे भगवान्विधिः । सस्मार कोटितीर्थानां स्मृतान्यत्रागतानि च

Transliteration

tato madhyāhnasamaye snānārthe bhagavānvidhiḥ | sasmāra koṭitīrthānāṃ smṛtānyatrāgatāni ca

Translation

അപ്പോൾ മധ്യാഹ്നസമയത്ത് സ്നാനാർത്ഥമായി ഭഗവാൻ വിധാതാ ബ്രഹ്മാവ് മനസ്സിൽ കോടിതീർത്ഥങ്ങളെ സ്മരിച്ചു; സ്മരിക്കപ്പെട്ട തീർത്ഥങ്ങൾ അവിടെയേയ്ക്ക് തന്നെ എത്തിച്ചേർന്നു.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then, thereafter
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Temporal/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) — ‘ततः’ = thereafter/then

• madhyāhna-samaye: at midday time
• madhyāhna-samaye: Adhikarana (Location/Time)
• Type: Noun
• Root: madhyāhna (प्रातिपदिक) + samaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन — ‘मध्याह्नसमये’ = at the midday time

• snāna-arthe: for bathing
• snāna-arthe: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: snāna (प्रातिपदिक) + artha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन — ‘स्नानार्थे’ = for the purpose of bathing

• bhagavān: the venerable lord
• bhagavān: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhagavat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन — ‘भगवान्’

• vidhiḥ: Brahmā (Vidhi)
• vidhiḥ: Apposition (समानााधिकरण to bhagavān)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vidhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन — ‘विधिः’ (ब्रह्मा)

• sasmāra: remembered, invoked
• sasmāra: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: smṛ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect/परोक्षभूत), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन — ‘सस्मार’ = remembered/called to mind

• koṭi-tīrthānām: of the myriad sacred fords (tīrthas)
• koṭi-tīrthānām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: koṭi (प्रातिपदिक) + tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन — ‘कोटितीर्थानाम्’ = of the crore of tīrthas

• smṛtāni: having been remembered
• smṛtāni: Karta (of implied verb ‘āgatāni’) / Predicate adjective
• Type: Adjective
• Root: smṛ (धातु) + ta (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त/PPP), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन — ‘स्मृतानि’ = remembered/called

• atra: here
• atra: Adhikarana (Location/देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक) — here

• āgatāni: arrived
• āgatāni: Karta (Predicate with smṛtāni; understood ‘(tīrthāni) āgatāni’)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ā-√gam (धातु) + ta (कृत्)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त/PPP), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन — ‘आगतानि’ = arrived

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक) — and

Speaker

Nārada

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Koṭitīrtha (collective ‘crore of tīrthas’ invoked)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A Kuru श्रेष्ठ (likely Janamejaya-type royal listener; addressed as ‘O best of Kurus’)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At midday, Brahmā (Padmabhū) pauses for snāna; with eyes half-closed in dhyāna, he mentally invokes Koṭitīrthas; subtle streams of light and water-forms begin to converge toward the chosen spot.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā (Vidhi)
• Koṭitīrtha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Remembrance and invocation of sacred realities (tīrthas) is portrayed as spiritually efficacious and immediately responsive.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Koṭitīrtha as a convergence-point where many tīrthas can be invoked and made present.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (ritual bathing), specifically connected with the midday (madhyāhna) observance.