Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 28

Devanagari script

तेषां मध्ये मुनींद्राणां सुतीर्थाश्रमवासिनाम् । दमयंतीति विख्याता चंद्रबिंबसमानना

Transliteration

teṣāṃ madhye munīṃdrāṇāṃ sutīrthāśramavāsinām | damayaṃtīti vikhyātā caṃdrabiṃbasamānanā

Translation

सुतीर्थ-आश्रमात वसणाऱ्या त्या मुनींद्रांमध्ये ‘दमयंती’ नावाने विख्यात अशी एक स्त्री होती; तिचे मुख चंद्रबिंबासारखे मनोहर होते।

Word by Word

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन

• मध्ये: in the midst
• मध्ये: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: madhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन

• मुनीन्द्राणाम्: of the chief sages
• मुनीन्द्राणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni + indra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन; 'munīnām indraḥ' (chief of sages)

• सुतीर्थाश्रमवासिनाम्: of the residents of the Su-tīrtha hermitage
• सुतीर्थाश्रमवासिनाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: su-tīrtha + āśrama + vāsin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (residents of the Su-tīrtha hermitage)

• दमयन्ती: Damayantī
• दमयन्ती: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: damayantī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन; नाम (proper name)

• इति: thus (named)
• इति: Sambandha (Quotation marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरण/नामनिर्देशार्थक-अव्यय (quotative particle)

• विख्याता: well-known
• विख्याता: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi-√khyā (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• चन्द्रबिम्बसमानना: she whose face is like the moon’s disc
• चन्द्रबिम्बसमानना: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: candra-bimba + sama + ānana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहि: यस्याः आननं चन्द्रबिम्बेन समम्

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Sutīrtha (as implied by Sutīrtha-āśrama)

Type: kund

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Within a serene forest āśrama by a clear tīrtha, sages sit in meditation while Damayantī, moon-faced, is introduced—radiant yet modest, framed by lotuses and hermitage huts.

Characters & Entities

• Sutīrtha-āśrama
• Munīndras (great sages)
• Damayantī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The tīrthamāhātmya frames sacred places through saintly communities (āśramas) and exemplary figures, linking beauty and fame to dharmic surroundings.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Sutīrtha-āśrama is highlighted as a sacred residence within the broader tīrtha landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; this verse introduces a key person connected with the āśrama.