Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

सूत उवाच । यानि प्रोक्तानि तीर्थानि भवद्भिर्द्विजसत्तमाः । अष्टषष्टिप्रमाणानि तथा क्षेत्राणि भूतले

Transliteration

sūta uvāca | yāni proktāni tīrthāni bhavadbhirdvijasattamāḥ | aṣṭaṣaṣṭipramāṇāni tathā kṣetrāṇi bhūtale

Translation

သုတက ပြော၏ — «အို ဒွိဇသတ္တမတို့၊ သင်တို့က ပြောဆိုခဲ့သော တီရ္ထများနှင့် မြေပြင်ပေါ်ရှိ သန့်ရှင်းသော က్షೇತ್ರများ အရေအတွက် ခြောက်ဆယ်ရှစ် ပါသကဲ့သို့ —»

Word by Word

• सूतः: Sūta
• सूतः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा एकवचनम् (masculine nominative singular)

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriyā (Main action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परिपूर्णभूत/Perfect); प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्

• यानि: which
• यानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचनम् (relative pronoun, neuter nom./acc. plural)

• प्रोक्तानि: have been stated
• प्रोक्तानि: Karma (Object described/कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-वच् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचनम् (neuter nom./acc. plural)

• तीर्थानि: pilgrimage places
• तीर्थानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचनम् (neuter nom./acc. plural)

• भवद्भिः: by you (honored ones)
• भवद्भिः: Karta (Agent in passive/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भवत् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया बहुवचनम् (instrumental plural: 'by you')

• द्विजसत्तमाः: O best of the twice-born
• द्विजसत्तमाः: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज (प्रातिपदिक) + सत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः तत्पुरुष (द्विजानां सत्तमाः); पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन बहुवचनम् (masculine vocative plural)

• अष्टषष्टिप्रमाणानि: measured as sixty-eight
• अष्टषष्टिप्रमाणानि: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टषष्टि (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + प्रमाण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः तत्पुरुष; नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचनम् (neuter nom./acc. plural)

• तथा: and likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Linker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय/अनुक्रमवाचक (adverb)

• क्षेत्राणि: sacred fields
• क्षेत्राणि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षेत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचनम् (neuter nom./acc. plural)

• भूतले: on the earth
• भूतले: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूतल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी एकवचनम् (neuter locative singular)

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa/related Sūta narrator figure)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Sixty-eight kṣetras (recalled set)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sūta begins his response, gesturing to a manuscript or counting beads as if preparing a list; sages listen attentively in a forest assembly.

Characters & Entities

• Sūta
• Dvijas (sages/brāhmaṇas)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic teaching is transmitted through dialogue: the narrator anchors pilgrimage knowledge in an authoritative count and tradition of remembrance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha yet; the verse sets up the topic of the sixty-eight kṣetras.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it is introductory narration.