Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

सृष्टिः कृता सुरश्रेष्ठ विश्वामित्रेण सांप्रतम् । मनुष्ययक्षसर्पाणां देवगंधर्वरक्षसाम्

Transliteration

sṛṣṭiḥ kṛtā suraśreṣṭha viśvāmitreṇa sāṃpratam | manuṣyayakṣasarpāṇāṃ devagaṃdharvarakṣasām

Translation

Wahai yang terbaik di antara para dewa, Viśvāmitra baru sahaja melahirkan suatu ciptaan baharu—yakni manusia, yakṣa, ular/nāga, para dewa, gandharva, dan rākṣasa.

Word by Word

• सृष्टिः: creation
• सृष्टिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सृष्टि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्

• कृता: has been made
• कृता: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्; ‘made/done’

• सुर-श्रेष्ठ: O best of the gods
• सुर-श्रेष्ठ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुर (प्रातिपदिक) + श्रेष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचनम्; ‘O best of gods’

• विश्वामित्रेण: by Viśvāmitra
• विश्वामित्रेण: Kartr-karana (Agent in passive/कर्तृ-करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विश्वामित्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, तृतीया, एकवचनम्

• सांप्रतम्: now, at present
• सांप्रतम्: Kala-adhikarana (Temporal/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सांप्रतम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; कालवाचक (adverb of time: now/at present)

• मनुष्य-यक्ष-सर्पाणाम्: of humans, yakṣas, and serpents
• मनुष्य-यक्ष-सर्पाणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनुष्य (प्रातिपदिक) + यक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + सर्प (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, षष्ठी (6th case), बहुवचनम्; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः—‘of men, yakṣas, and serpents’

• देव-गन्धर्व-रक्षसाम्: of gods, gandharvas, and rākṣasas
• देव-गन्धर्व-रक्षसाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक) + गन्धर्व (प्रातिपदिक) + रक्षस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, षष्ठी, बहुवचनम्; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः—‘of gods, gandharvas, and rākṣasas’

Speaker

Unspecified (narrative voice within the dialogue context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: sur-śreṣṭha (a leading deva addressed) and dvijāḥ (implicit audience)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Viśvāmitra, radiant with tapas, stands amid a surge of newly manifested beings—humans, yakṣas, nāgas, devas, gandharvas, rākṣasas—spilling into the cosmos like a second dawn, while gods look on in alarm.

Characters & Entities

• Viśvāmitra
• Devas
• Manuṣyas
• Yakṣas
• Sarpas
• Gandharvas
• Rākṣasas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It highlights the extraordinary potency of tapas and resolve—so powerful that it is described as generating an alternate creation, reminding devotees that spiritual force must be guided by dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse sits within the Tīrthamāhātmya frame of the Nāgara-khaṇḍa; the immediate line itself is narrative (Triśaṅku–Viśvāmitra) rather than naming a single tīrtha explicitly.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) appears in this verse; it is descriptive of cosmic events.