Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 36

Devanagari script

एवमुक्तस्ततस्तेन भगवान्मधुसूदनः । पातालजाह्नवीतोयं स सस्मार समाधिना

Transliteration

evamuktastatastena bhagavānmadhusūdanaḥ | pātālajāhnavītoyaṃ sa sasmāra samādhinā

Translation

അവൻ ഇങ്ങനെ അഭ്യർത്ഥിച്ചതോടെ ഭഗവാൻ മധുസൂദനൻ സമാധിയിൽ ലീനനായി പാതാളസ്ഥ ജാഹ്നവീ (ഗംഗ) ജലത്തെ സ്മരിച്ചു.

Word by Word

• evam: thus
• evam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (adverb of manner)

• uktaḥ: having been spoken to / addressed
• uktaḥ: Karta (Subject complement)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vac (धातु) → ukta (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त/PPP); पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे ‘said/addressed’

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Temporal adverb)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; काल/अनन्तरवाचक (then/thereupon)

• tena: by him
• tena: Karta (Agent in passive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुल्लिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; करण/सहायक-निर्देश (by him)

• bhagavān: the Blessed Lord
• bhagavān: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhagavat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• madhusūdanaḥ: Madhusūdana (slayer of Madhu)
• madhusūdanaḥ: Karta (Apposition to subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: madhu + sūdana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (madhoḥ sūdanaḥ); पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• pātāla-jāhnavī-toyam: the water of the subterranean Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā)
• pātāla-jāhnavī-toyam: Karma (Object/that remembered)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pātāla + jāhnavī + toya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (पातालजाह्नवी-तोयम् = पातालस्थाया जाह्नव्याः तोयम्); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• sasmāra: remembered / called to mind
• sasmāra: Kriyā (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: smṛ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• samādhinā: by (his) meditative concentration
• samādhinā: Karaṇa (Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: samādhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; करण (instrument)

Speaker

Narrative voice (describing Viṣṇu’s action)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Pātāla-Jāhnavī-sannidhi (Gaṅgā presence at the local tīrtha)

Type: kund

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Viṣṇu (Madhusūdana) seated in yogic stillness, eyes half-closed, recalling the hidden Jāhnavī waters of Pātāla; the earth subtly trembles as sacred water is about to be summoned.

Characters & Entities

• Madhusūdana (Viṣṇu)
• Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā)
• Pātāla

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred waters are not merely physical; by divine will and yogic power they manifest as instruments of purification and grace.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā) is central, here in the special form of pātāla-Jāhnavī, linked to the local tīrtha setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct rite is stated, but the verse prepares for snāna (bathing) in the invoked Jāhnavī waters.