Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 102

Devanagari script

सायंतने च संप्राप्ते काले ब्राह्मणसत्तमाः । तेन स्याद्वंदिता संध्या सम्यग्द्वादशवार्षिकी

Transliteration

sāyaṃtane ca saṃprāpte kāle brāhmaṇasattamāḥ | tena syādvaṃditā saṃdhyā samyagdvādaśavārṣikī

Translation

ഹേ ബ്രാഹ്മണശ്രേഷ്ഠന്മാരേ! സായങ്കാലം എത്തിയാൽ, ആ കർമം മൂലം സന്ധ്യ ശരിയായി വന്ദിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു; പന്ത്രണ്ടുവർഷത്തെ അനുഷ്ഠാനഫലമെന്നപോലെ പുണ്യം ലഭിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• sāyaṃtane: in the evening (time)
• sāyaṃtane: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sāyaṃtana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन; विशेषण—kāle इति

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक (conjunction)

• saṃprāpte: when (it has) arrived
• saṃprāpte: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam-pra-āp (सम्+प्र+आप् धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त, पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण—kāle इति

• kāle: at the time
• kāle: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन

• brāhmaṇa-sattamāḥ: O best of Brahmins
• brāhmaṇa-sattamāḥ: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + sattama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), बहुवचन; कर्मधारय (श्रेष्ठाः ब्राह्मणाः) संबोधनार्थे प्रयुक्तम्

• tena: by that, thereby
• tena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), एकवचन

• syāt: would be, becomes
• syāt: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (अस् धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• vanditā: praised, saluted
• vanditā: Karta (Subject complement)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vand (वन्द् धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त, स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण—saṃdhyā इति

• saṃdhyā: the Sandhyā (twilight rite)
• saṃdhyā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃdhyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन

• samyak: properly, duly
• samyak: Visheshana (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: samyak (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• dvādaśa-vārṣikī: of twelve years (duration)
• dvādaśa-vārṣikī: Karta (Subject qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvādaśa (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + vārṣikī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (द्वादश-वर्ष-परिमिता) विशेषण—saṃdhyā इति

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Chamatkārapura (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: brāhmaṇasattamāḥ (best of brāhmaṇas)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Evening descends; the sandhyā rite is shown as being ‘honored’—a visual metaphor of twelve-year merit: a radiant halo around the practitioner, time-lapse motifs (twelve solar cycles) subtly implied.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Regular daily worship gains extraordinary potency when aligned with sacred time (evening sandhyā) and sacred place (tīrtha).

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The same Nāgarakhaṇḍa tīrtha setting described in this adhyāya, where sandhyā worship is especially efficacious.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Performing the evening sandhyā properly; its merit is stated as equivalent to a twelve-year observance.