Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

फलमूलकृताहारस्ततो वर्षशतत्रयम् । ध्यायमानः परं ब्रह्म स्थितो ब्राह्मणसत्तमाः । शीर्णपर्णाशनः पश्चात्तावत्कालं व्यवस्थितः

Transliteration

phalamūlakṛtāhārastato varṣaśatatrayam | dhyāyamānaḥ paraṃ brahma sthito brāhmaṇasattamāḥ | śīrṇaparṇāśanaḥ paścāttāvatkālaṃ vyavasthitaḥ

Translation

പിന്നീട് ഫലമൂലാഹാരം മാത്രം സ്വീകരിച്ച് മൂന്നു നൂറു വർഷം കഴിഞ്ഞു; പരബ്രഹ്മത്തെ ധ്യാനിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് ആ ബ്രാഹ്മണശ്രേഷ്ഠൻ സ്ഥിരനായി നിന്നു. തുടർന്ന് ഉണങ്ങി വീണ ഇലകൾ ആഹാരമാക്കി അതേ കാലം തപസ്സിൽ നിലകൊണ്ടു.

Word by Word

• phalamūlakṛtāhāraḥ: one whose food was made of fruits and roots
• phalamūlakṛtāhāraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: phala (प्रातिपदिक) + mūla (प्रातिपदिक) + kṛta (कृदन्त; √kṛ (धातु) + क्त) + āhāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुपद-तत्पुरुष-समास (फलमूलैः कृतः आहारः यस्य); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; predicate adjective

• tataḥ: thereafter
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रम/अनन्तर-अव्यय; adverb ‘thereafter’

• varṣaśatatrayam: three hundred years
• varṣaśatatrayam: Kāla-adhvana (Duration/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + śata (प्रातिपदिक) + traya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्विगु-समास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; duration-accusative

• dhyāyamānaḥ: meditating
• dhyāyamānaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dhyāyamāna (कृदन्त; √dhyai (धातु) + शानच्)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (present participle, ātmanepada sense), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• param: supreme
• param: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; विशेषण

• brahma: Brahman (Absolute)
• brahma: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

• sthitaḥ: remaining, abiding
• sthitaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sthita (कृदन्त; √sthā (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; past participle used predicatively

• brāhmaṇasattamaḥ: best of Brahmins
• brāhmaṇasattamaḥ: Apposition (सम्बोधन/विशेष्य-विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + sattama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष/कर्मधारय-सदृश (ब्राह्मणेषु सत्तमः); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; epithet (text has plural ‘-āḥ’ but sense singular)

• śīrṇaparṇāśanaḥ: eating fallen/dry leaves
• śīrṇaparṇāśanaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śīrṇa (कृदन्त; √śṝ/√śīr (धातु) + क्त) + parṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + āśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (शीर्णानि पर्णानि आशनं यस्य); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; predicate adjective

• paścāt: afterwards
• paścāt: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: paścāt (अव्यय)
• Form: काल-अव्यय; adverb ‘afterwards’

• tāvatkālam: for that long a time
• tāvatkālam: Kāla-adhvana (Duration/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāvat (अव्यय/परिमाण) + kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास (तावत् कालम्); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; duration-accusative

• vyavasthitaḥ: steadfast, remaining
• vyavasthitaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi-ava-√sthā (धातु)
• Form: क्त-कृदन्त (past participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; ‘firmly established/remaining’

Speaker

Sūta (contextual continuation)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Himavat tapas-bhūmi (generic)

Type: peak

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and sages (implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An emaciated yet radiant ascetic seated in padmāsana beneath a Himalayan tree near a hermitage, with a small pile of fruits/roots in earlier phase and only dry leaves later; aura of stillness as he contemplates Parabrahman.

Characters & Entities

• Viśvāmitra
• Paraṃ Brahma

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Austerity is not merely bodily hardship; it is joined to contemplation of Brahman, making renunciation purposeful and liberating.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse continues the Himavat tapas setting while remaining within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya narrative frame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Dietary restraints (āhāra-niyama) are described—subsisting on fruits/roots and later on dried leaves.