Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

षडक्षरेण मंत्रेण शैवेन विहिताः सुराः । शूद्र उवाच । व्रतचर्या त्वया या सा प्रोक्ता संजा यते कथम्

Transliteration

ṣaḍakṣareṇa maṃtreṇa śaivena vihitāḥ surāḥ | śūdra uvāca | vratacaryā tvayā yā sā proktā saṃjā yate katham

Translation

နတ်တို့ကို ရှိုင်ဝ (Śaiva) ခြောက်အက္ခရာ မန္တရဖြင့် စနစ်တကျ သင်ကြားပေးခဲ့သည်။ ရှူဒြ (Śūdra) က ပြောသည်—“သင်ဖော်ပြခဲ့သော ဝရတ-စည်းကမ်းကို မည်သို့မှန်ကန်စွာ ဆောင်ရွက်ရမည်နည်း?”

Word by Word

• षट्: six
• षट्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण-अङ्ग)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षट् (संख्या; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्याशब्दः; (compound-member; in समास)

• अक्षरेण: by/with a syllable
• अक्षरेण: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अक्षर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन (compound-member; in समास)

• षड्-अक्षरेण: with the six-syllabled (mantra)
• षड्-अक्षरेण: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: षट् (संख्या) + अक्षर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्विगु-समास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• मन्त्रेण: by/with a mantra
• मन्त्रेण: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• शैवेन: Śaiva, pertaining to Śiva
• शैवेन: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शैव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; मन्त्रेण इति विशेषणम्

• विहिताः: enjoined, prescribed
• विहिताः: Karta (Agent/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विहित (कृदन्त; वि+√धा (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; सुराः इति विशेषणम्

• सुराः: the gods
• सुराः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• शूद्रः: the Śūdra (questioner)
• शूद्रः: Karta (Speaker/वक्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शूद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

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

• व्रतचर्या: vow-observance
• व्रतचर्या: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्रतचर्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• त्वया: by you
• त्वया: Kartr-karana (Agent/Instrument in passive/कर्ता-करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; तृतीया, एकवचन

• या: which
• या: Sambandha (Relative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; व्रतचर्या इति विशेषणम्

• सा: that
• सा: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; व्रतचर्या इति अन्वयः

• प्रोक्ता: told, explained
• प्रोक्ता: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रोक्त (कृदन्त; प्र+√वच् (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; व्रतचर्या इति विशेषणम्

• संजायते: arises, comes about
• संजायते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्+√जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• कथम्: how?
• कथम्: Prashna (Question/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम् (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नवाचक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb)

Speaker

Śūdra (questioner); prior clause is narrator’s statement

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śūdra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A teacher-sage instructs devas in a Śaiva six-syllabled mantra; nearby, a humble Śūdra devotee respectfully questions the method of undertaking the vrata.

Characters & Entities

• Suras (Devas)
• Śiva (Śaiva mantra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Right practice requires right instruction: mantra and vrata become fruitful when learned and undertaken according to dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse belongs to a tīrtha-glorification chapter, but the site is not explicitly named in this line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Use of a Śaiva ṣaḍakṣara-mantra and the formal undertaking of vrata-caryā (vow observance).