Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 268

Devanagari script

इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां षष्ठे नागरखण्डे हाटकेश्वरक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये गौतमेश्वरमाहात्म्ये पृथ्वीदानमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनामाष्टषष्ट्युत्तरद्विशततमोऽध्यायः

Transliteration

iti śrīskāṃde mahāpurāṇa ekāśītisāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ ṣaṣṭhe nāgarakhaṇḍe hāṭakeśvarakṣetramāhātmye gautameśvaramāhātmye pṛthvīdānamāhātmyavarṇanaṃnāmāṣṭaṣaṣṭyuttaradviśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

ഇങ്ങനെ ശ്രീ സ്കന്ദ മഹാപുരാണത്തിലെ ഏകാശീതി-സാഹസ്രീ സംഹിതയുടെ ഷഷ്ഠ നാഗരഖണ്ഡത്തിൽ, ഹാടകേശ്വര-ക്ഷേത്രമാഹാത്മ്യാന്തർഗത ഗൗതമേശ്വരമാഹാത്മ്യത്തിലെ ‘പൃഥ്വീദാനമാഹാത്മ്യവർണനം’ എന്ന 268-ാം അധ്യായം സമാപ്തമായി.

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Discourse marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; इत्यादि-निपात (quotative/closing particle)

• श्रीस्कांदे: in the Śrī Skanda (Purāṇa)
• श्रीस्कांदे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रीस्कन्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; समासः—श्री + स्कन्द (कर्मधारय; honorific)

• महापुराणे: in the Mahāpurāṇa
• महापुराणे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महापुराण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; समासः—महत् + पुराण (कर्मधारय)

• एकाशीतिसाहस्र्याम्: in the (collection of) eighty-one thousand (verses/units)
• एकाशीतिसाहस्र्याम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एकाशीति + साहस्री (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; समासः—एकाशीतिः सहस्राणि यस्याः (संख्या-निर्देश; '81,000')

• संहितायाम्: in the saṃhitā
• संहितायाम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संहिता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• षष्ठे: in the sixth
• षष्ठे: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; क्रमवाचक (ordinal)

• नागरखण्डे: in the Nāgara-khaṇḍa section
• नागरखण्डे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नागरखण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; समासः—नागर + खण्ड (तत्पुरुष)

• हाटकेश्वरक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये: in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara sacred field
• हाटकेश्वरक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हाटकेश्वर + क्षेत्र + माहात्म्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; बहुपद-समासः (तत्पुरुष): हाटकेश्वरस्य क्षेत्रस्य माहात्म्यम्

• गौतमेश्वरमाहात्म्ये: in the Gautameśvara Māhātmya
• गौतमेश्वरमाहात्म्ये: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गौतमेश्वर + माहात्म्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; समासः—गौतमेश्वरस्य माहात्म्यम् (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• पृथ्वीदानमाहात्म्यवर्णनम्: the narration of the glory of gifting land
• पृथ्वीदानमाहात्म्यवर्णनम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथ्वीदान + माहात्म्य + वर्णन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; बहुपद-समासः (तत्पुरुष): पृथ्वीदानस्य माहात्म्यस्य वर्णनम्

• नाम: named
• नाम: Sambandha (Apposition marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नाम (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; नामार्थक-निपात (marker 'called/named')

• अष्टषष्ट्युत्तरद्विशततमः: the 268th
• अष्टषष्ट्युत्तरद्विशततमः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टषष्टि + उत्तर + द्विशततम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; संख्या-समासः (तत्पुरुष): द्विशततमः + अष्टषष्टि-उत्तरः (=268th)

• अध्यायः: chapter
• अध्यायः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator/Redactor (colophon)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (subsection: Gautameśvara)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Naimiṣāraṇya sages (work-level frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A manuscript colophon scene: scribes conclude a palm-leaf folio, temple silhouette in the margin, signaling the end of the ‘Pṛthvī-dāna-māhātmya’ chapter within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra cycle.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda Purāṇa
• Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra
• Gautameśvara

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

As a colophon, it primarily authenticates the chapter’s theme: the tīrtha-framed glory of pṛthvī-dāna.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra, specifically through the Gautameśvara Māhātmya sub-narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It names the topic—pṛthvī-dāna (donation of land)—as the chapter’s focus rather than giving procedural details.