Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 2

Devanagari script

अहो तीर्थमहो तीर्थं हाटकेश्वरसंज्ञितम् । क्षेत्रं यच्च धरापृष्ठे सर्वाश्चर्यमयं शुभम्

Transliteration

aho tīrthamaho tīrthaṃ hāṭakeśvarasaṃjñitam | kṣetraṃ yacca dharāpṛṣṭhe sarvāścaryamayaṃ śubham

Translation

അഹോ! എത്ര മഹാതീർത്ഥം, എത്ര മഹാതീർത്ഥം തന്നെ—‘ഹാടകേശ്വര’ എന്ന നാമത്തിൽ പ്രസിദ്ധം; ഭൂമിപൃഷ്ഠത്തിലെ ആ ക്ഷേത്രം സർവ്വാശ്ചര്യമയവും ശുഭപ്രദവും ആകുന്നു.

Word by Word

• अहो: ah!, oh!
• अहो: Bhāva (Exclamation/भाव)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: aho (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (विस्मयादिबोधक-निपात/particle of exclamation)

• तीर्थम्: sacred ford, pilgrimage place
• तीर्थम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd Nom/Acc), एकवचन

• अहो: ah!, indeed!
• अहो: Bhāva (Exclamation/भाव)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: aho (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (विस्मय-निपात/particle)

• तीर्थम्: sacred place
• तीर्थम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd Nom/Acc), एकवचन

• हाटकेश्वरसंज्ञितम्: named ‘Hāṭakeśvara’
• हाटकेश्वरसंज्ञितम्: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हाटक (प्रातिपदिक) + ईश्वर (प्रातिपदिक) + संज्ञित (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (तीर्थम्/क्षेत्रम् इति); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (हाटकेश्वरस्य संज्ञितम् = named Hāṭakeśvara)

• क्षेत्रम्: holy field/region
• क्षेत्रम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd Nom/Acc), एकवचन

• यत्: which
• यत्: Karta (Relative subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्ध-प्रत्यय (relative pronoun)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय/and)

• धरापृष्ठे: on the surface of the earth
• धरापृष्ठे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धरा (प्रातिपदिक) + पृष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (धरायाः पृष्ठम्)

• सर्वाश्चर्यमयम्: full of all wonders
• सर्वाश्चर्यमयम्: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक) + आश्चर्य (प्रातिपदिक) + मय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (क्षेत्रम् इति); तत्पुरुषः (आश्चर्यैः मयम्; सर्व-उपपदपूर्वक)

• शुभम्: auspicious
• शुभम्: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śubha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (क्षेत्रम् इति)

Speaker

Unspecified (context: dialogue narration within Tīrthamāhātmya; likely the inquirer addressing a sage)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra / Śaṅkhatīrtha (linked)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Viśvāmitra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A lyrical exclamation praising the tīrtha and the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra: the narrator gestures toward a radiant sacred landscape—water, shrine, and pilgrims—suggesting marvels on earth’s surface.

Characters & Entities

• Hāṭakeśvara

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Reverence for tīrthas: a holy place is celebrated as inherently auspicious and spiritually elevating.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra/tīrtha, praised as a wondrous and auspicious sacred region.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated here; it functions as a eulogy (stuti) of the tīrtha.