Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

सूत उवाच । तथाऽन्ये तत्र तिष्ठंति वसवोऽष्टौ द्विजोत्तमाः । स्थानमेकं समाश्रित्य सर्वदैव प्रपूजिताः

Transliteration

sūta uvāca | tathā'nye tatra tiṣṭhaṃti vasavo'ṣṭau dvijottamāḥ | sthānamekaṃ samāśritya sarvadaiva prapūjitāḥ

Translation

သုတက ပြော၏။ ထိုနေရာ၌လည်း အခြားသော ဒေဝတားများ နေထိုင်ကြ၏—ဒွိဇအထွတ်အမြတ်ရေ၊ ဝသုရှစ်ပါး ဖြစ်ကြသည်။ သန့်ရှင်းသော တည်နေရာတစ်ခုကို အားကိုး၍ အမြဲတမ်း ပူဇော်ခံကြ၏။

Word by Word

• सूतः: Sūta
• सूतः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• तथा: thus/likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• अन्ये: others
• अन्ये: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण

• तिष्ठन्ति: stand/remain
• तिष्ठन्ति: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन, परस्मैपद

• वसवः: the Vasus
• वसवः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• अष्टौ: eight
• अष्टौ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टन् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्यावाचक, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; विशेषण (of वसवः)

• द्विजोत्तमाः: best among the twice-born
• द्विजोत्तमाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज + उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष/कर्मधारय ‘द्विजेषु उत्तमाः’; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; समनाधिकरण (apposition to वसवः)

• स्थानम्: a place
• स्थानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्थान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• एकम्: one
• एकम्: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; विशेषण (of स्थानम्)

• समाश्रित्य: having taken refuge in/resorted to
• समाश्रित्य: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्+आ+श्रि (धातु) → समाश्रित्य (क्त्वान्त)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund), ‘having resorted to’

• सर्वदा: always
• सर्वदा: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सर्वदा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (temporal adverb)

• एव: indeed
• एव: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, निपात (emphasis particle)

• प्रपूजिताः: highly honoured/worshipped
• प्रपूजिताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्र+पूज् (धातु) → प्रपूजित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; विशेषण (predicate)

Speaker

Sūta

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Unnamed ‘one station’ (sthanam ekam) within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa kṣetra narrative

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Dwijottamas at Naimiṣāraṇya (Śaunaka-led sages; ‘dvijoत्तमाः’ addressed)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A single sacred platform/shrine where eight radiant Vasus stand or sit in a semicircle, each with subtle elemental emblems (fire, wind, water, earth, etc.), while priests and pilgrims offer continuous worship—suggesting timeless, all-hours pūjā.

Characters & Entities

• Sūta
• Vasus

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A kṣetra is sanctified by continuous divine presence; worship there is portrayed as ever-valid due to the devas abiding in that place.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse refers to “there” within the ongoing Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya context, continuing the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra region narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Perpetual worship (prapūjā) at the sacred station is implied, though no specific rite is detailed.