Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

यथैव वर्षतो धारा यथा वा दिवि तारकाः । गंगायां सिकता यद्वत्संख्यया परिवर्जिताः

Transliteration

yathaiva varṣato dhārā yathā vā divi tārakāḥ | gaṃgāyāṃ sikatā yadvatsaṃkhyayā parivarjitāḥ

Translation

जशी पावसाच्या धारा, आकाशातील तारे आणि गंगेतील वाळूचे कण मोजण्यापलीकडे आहेत—तसेच तेही असंख्य आहेत।

Word by Word

• यथा: as, just as
• यथा: Sambandha (Comparative marker/उपमान-सूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Comparative particle/उपमा)

• एव: indeed, just
• एव: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Emphatic particle/अवधारण)

• वर्षतः: of (the one) raining / of rain
• वर्षतः: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्षत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कृदन्त (शतृ-प्रत्यय, present participle), पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (Genitive), एकवचन; √वृष् (धातु)

• धारा: stream, shower
• धारा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धारा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• यथा: as
• यथा: Sambandha (Comparative marker/उपमान-सूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Comparative particle/उपमा)

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Alternative/disjunctive particle/विकल्प)

• दिवि: in the sky
• दिवि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिव् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन

• तारकाः: stars
• तारकाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तारका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• गंगायाम्: in the Ganga
• गंगायाम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गङ्गा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• सिकताः: sand grains
• सिकताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सिकता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• यद्वत्: just as
• यद्वत्: Sambandha (Comparative marker/उपमान-सूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यद्वत् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Comparative particle/उपमा)

• संख्यया: by number, by counting
• संख्यया: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संख्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• परिवर्जिताः: excluded, left out (i.e., innumerable)
• परिवर्जिताः: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (Predicate adjective/समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परि + वर्ज् (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; √वर्ज् + परि- उपसर्ग

Speaker

Sūta

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā (invoked as exemplar)

Type: river

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic tableau: rain-streams falling in countless threads, a star-filled sky, and the Gaṅgā’s shore with endless sand—visualizing ‘beyond counting’.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā
• Stars
• Rain-streams

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic māhātmyas use cosmic and sacred-natural imagery to convey immeasurable scale—of merit, beings, or qualities—beyond ordinary counting.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gaṅgā is invoked as the benchmark of sacred vastness; the chapter’s main tīrtha remains the narrative focus, with Gaṅgā used as a revered comparison.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse is a poetic comparison emphasizing innumerability.