Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 26

Devanagari script

नगरस्थित लिंगानां यस्मात्संस्मरणात्स्थितः । नागरेश्वरसंज्ञस्तु तस्मादेष भविष्यति

Transliteration

nagarasthita liṃgānāṃ yasmātsaṃsmaraṇātsthitaḥ | nāgareśvarasaṃjñastu tasmādeṣa bhaviṣyati

Translation

നഗരത്തിൽ സ്ഥിതിചെയ്യുന്ന ലിംഗങ്ങളെ സ്മരിക്കുന്നതിലൂടെ ഇത് സ്ഥാപിതമായി നിലകൊള്ളുന്നതിനാൽ, അതിനാൽ ഇതിന് ‘നാഗരേശ്വര’ എന്ന നാമം ഉണ്ടാകും.

Word by Word

• नगरस्थितलिङ्गानाम्: of the liṅgas situated in the city
• नगरस्थितलिङ्गानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नगर (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक) + लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन; समासः—नगरस्थिता लिङ्गानि (locative-determinative)

• यस्मात्: because of which; from which
• यस्मात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय-प्रयोगः (यस्मात् = ‘because/from which’) हेत्वर्थे

• संस्मरणात्: from remembrance; by recalling
• संस्मरणात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सम्+स्मरण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन

• स्थितः: is established; stands
• स्थितः: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (PPP) ‘स्थित’; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• नागरेश्वरसंज्ञः: (one) named ‘Nāgareśvara’
• नागरेश्वरसंज्ञः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नागर (प्रातिपदिक) + ईश्वर (प्रातिपदिक) + संज्ञा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन; समासः—नागरेश्वर इति संज्ञा यस्य (name-determinative)

• तु: indeed; but
• तु: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (विरोध/विशेषार्थक निपात)

• तस्मात्: therefore
• तस्मात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (तस्मात् = ‘therefore’) हेत्वर्थे

• एषः: this (one)
• एषः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• भविष्यति: will be; will become
• भविष्यति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लृट् (Simple Future/भविष्यत्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Narrator (implied Purāṇic narrator; likely Sūta in the Nāgara-khaṇḍa frame)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Nāgareśvara

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The newly named Nāgareśvara-liṅga stands in a finished shrine; faintly behind it, like a mandala, appear silhouettes of many city-liṅgas, indicating remembrance linking them all.

Characters & Entities

• Nāgareśvara
• Śiva-liṅga
• nagara (city)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred memory anchors sacred place: remembrance and continuity help establish a tīrtha’s identity and power.

Which specific holy site (Tīrtha) is glorified here?

Nāgareśvara—the liṅga and its shrine—explicitly, as a named pilgrimage focus within the Nāgara Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, saṃsmaraṇa (devotional remembrance) of the city’s liṅgas is praised as spiritually establishing.