Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

राजोवाच । शंखतीर्थं कथं ज्ञेयं मया ब्राह्मणसत्तमाः । कथं चैव समुत्पन्नं वदध्वं मम विस्तरात्

Transliteration

rājovāca | śaṃkhatīrthaṃ kathaṃ jñeyaṃ mayā brāhmaṇasattamāḥ | kathaṃ caiva samutpannaṃ vadadhvaṃ mama vistarāt

Translation

မင်းကြီးက မိန့်တော်မူသည်—“အို ဗြာဟ္မဏအမြတ်တို့၊ ငါသည် သင်္ခတီရ္ထ (Śaṅkhatīrtha) ကို မည်သို့ ခွဲခြားသိမြင်ရမည်နည်း။ ထို့အပြင် မည်သို့ ပေါ်ပေါက်လာသနည်း။ အသေးစိတ် ငါ့အား ပြောကြလော့။”

Word by Word

• राजा: the king
• राजा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• शंख-तीर्थम्: Śaṅkha-tīrtha (the sacred ford named Śaṅkha)
• शंख-तीर्थम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शंख (प्रातिपदिक) + तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास (तत्पुरुष: शंखस्य तीर्थम्), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• कथम्: how?
• कथम्: Adverbial (प्रश्न/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (interrogative adverb)

• ज्ञेयम्: is to be known
• ज्ञेयम्: Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ज्ञा (धातु) → ज्ञेय (कृदन्त, तव्यत्)
• Form: कृदन्त (gerundive/तव्यत्), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विधेय (to be known)

• मया: by me
• मया: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: सर्वनाम, त्रिलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन

• ब्राह्मण-सत्तमाः: O best of Brahmins
• ब्राह्मण-सत्तमाः: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण (प्रातिपदिक) + सत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास (कर्मधारय: ब्राह्मणाः एव सत्तमाः), पुंलिङ्ग, संबोधन (8th), बहुवचन

• कथम्: how?
• कथम्: Adverbial (प्रश्न/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (interrogative adverb)

• च: and
• च: Connector (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conjunction)

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

• समुत्पन्नम्: arisen; originated
• समुत्पन्नम्: Predicate/Qualifier (विधेय/विशेषण) of शंखतीर्थम्
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-उत्-पद् (धातु) → उत्पन्न (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (past participle/क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘arisen/produced’

• वदध्वम्: tell (you all)
• वदध्वम्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वद् (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (आज्ञार्थ/imperative), मध्यमपुरुष, बहुवचन, आत्मनेपद

• मम: to me; of me
• मम: Sampradana/Relation (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: सर्वनाम, त्रिलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन

• विस्तरात्: in detail
• विस्तरात्: Adverbial (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: विस्तर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावेन क्रियाविशेषणवत् ‘in detail’

Speaker

King (Rājā)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Śaṅkhatīrtha

Type: tirtha

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Rājā (king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A king, hands folded, addresses a seated circle of venerable Brahmins near a hermitage or ghāṭa; the mood is formal and inquisitive, with scrolls or water-vessels indicating sacred instruction.

Characters & Entities

• Śaṅkhatīrtha
• brāhmaṇasattamāḥ (sages)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A righteous ruler seeks precise knowledge of sacred places and their origins, showing reverence for dharma and tīrtha-tradition.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Śaṅkhatīrtha—its identification and origin are requested.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse transitions into the tīrtha’s origin narrative (utpatti-kathā).