Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 11

Devanagari script

अथाष्टषष्टिविप्राणां तत्र मध्ये नृपोत्तमः । अष्टषष्टिगृहाण्येव चकार सुबृहंति च

Transliteration

athāṣṭaṣaṣṭiviprāṇāṃ tatra madhye nṛpottamaḥ | aṣṭaṣaṣṭigṛhāṇyeva cakāra subṛhaṃti ca

Translation

Kemudian, di tengah tempat itu, raja yang utama membina tepat enam puluh lapan buah rumah untuk enam puluh lapan orang brāhmaṇa—kediaman yang sungguh luas dan megah.

Word by Word

• अथ: then
• अथ: Discourse marker (अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: मङ्गल/अनन्तरार्थक-अव्यय (particle: ‘then/now’)

• अष्टषष्टिविप्राणाम्: of sixty-six brahmins
• अष्टषष्टिविप्राणाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्टषष्टि (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + विप्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन; tatpuruṣa: ‘अष्टषष्टेः विप्राः’ = ‘of sixty-six brahmins’

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Deśa-adhikaraṇa (देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of place)

• मध्ये: in the middle
• मध्ये: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन

• नृपोत्तमः: the best king
• नृपोत्तमः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप (प्रातिपदिक) + उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता), एकवचन; कर्मधारय: ‘उत्तमो नृपः’

• अष्टषष्टिगृहाणि: sixty-six houses
• अष्टषष्टिगृहाणि: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्टषष्टि (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + गृह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), बहुवचन; tatpuruṣa: ‘अष्टषष्टेः गृहाणि’ = ‘sixty-six houses’

• एव: indeed; just
• एव: Emphasis (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• चकार: he made; he built
• चकार: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• सुबृहन्ति: very large
• सुबृहन्ति: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + बृहन्त् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; विशेषणं ‘गृहाणि’; कर्मधारय: ‘सु-बृहन्ति’ = ‘very large’

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction)

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narrator)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: In the city’s center, a planned cluster of sixty-eight spacious houses is presented to sixty-eight brāhmaṇas; the king oversees the allotment; families receive keys/ritual water-pot; a sense of orderly benefaction and sanctity.

Characters & Entities

• king (nṛpottama)
• sixty-eight brāhmaṇas (aṣṭaṣaṣṭi vipra)
• houses (gṛha)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Providing stable residences to the dharmic community is a high form of charity and a foundation for continuous worship and teaching.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The housing is built within the sacred kṣetra described in Nāgarakhaṇḍa, Tīrthamāhātmya, Adhyāya 113; this verse does not name the tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Gṛha-dāna/settlement support is implied as a dharmic act; no formal ritual steps are detailed in this verse.