Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

भूमौ निखन्यमानायां ततो लिंगानि भूरिशः । चतुर्वक्त्राणि तान्येव यांति दृष्टेश्च गोचरम्

Transliteration

bhūmau nikhanyamānāyāṃ tato liṃgāni bhūriśaḥ | caturvaktrāṇi tānyeva yāṃti dṛṣṭeśca gocaram

Translation

မြေကို တူးဖော်နေစဉ်တွင် လိင်္ဂများ အလွန်များစွာ ပေါ်ထွက်လာ၍၊ ထိုလိင်္ဂများသည် မျက်နှာလေးဖက်ပါသော အတူတူပင် မျက်စိမြင်နိုင်ရာသို့ ဝင်လာကြ၏။

Word by Word

• भूमौ: on/in the earth
• भूमौ: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूमि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• निखन्यमानायाम्: while being dug (into)
• निखन्यमानायाम्: Adhikaraṇa (Location qualifier/अधिकरण-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि√खन् (धातु) → निखन्यमान (कृदन्त, वर्तमानकाले कर्मणि कृदन्त/शतृ-प्रायः)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मणि (passive) वर्तमान-प्रक्रिया; विशेषणम् (भूमौ इत्यस्य)

• ततः: then/from there
• ततः: Sambandha (Sequence/अनुक्रम)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• लिङ्गानि: liṅgas (emblems)
• लिङ्गानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• भूरिशः: in great numbers
• भूरिशः: Visheshana (Quantifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: भूरिशस् (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक-निबद्ध)
• Form: अव्यय; परिमाण/बहुत्ववाचक क्रियाविशेषण

• चतुर्वक्त्राणि: four-faced
• चतुर्वक्त्राणि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर् + वक्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (चतुर्-वक्त्र = having four faces); विशेषणम् (लिङ्गानि)

• तानि: those
• तानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• एव: indeed/only
• एव: Sambandha (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण (emphasis/only)

• यान्ति: go/come
• यान्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √या (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• दृष्टेः: of sight/vision
• दृष्टेः: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दृष्टि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• गोचरम्: range/object of perception
• गोचरम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गोचर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; (दृष्टेः) गोचरम् = दृष्टिगोचरम् (object-range)

Speaker

Sūta

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Artisans dig into earth; from the opened ground, countless four-faced liṅgas emerge in rows, catching sunlight; onlookers freeze in awe and fear as the kṣetra reveals its hidden Śaiva form.

Characters & Entities

• Liṅgas
• Caturvaktra (four-faced forms)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

When a kṣetra is purified and restored, hidden divinity becomes visible again—darśana arises from dharmic effort.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The liṅga-udbhava kṣetra/ādyatīrtha region where many (including caturvaktra) liṅgas are uncovered.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implied: excavation and cleansing leading to renewed darśana and eventual re-consecration/temple establishment.