Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 38

Devanagari script

अथ तेषां वचः श्रुत्वा भगवान्वृषभध्वजः । कृत्वा रूपं द्विजेंद्रस्य तत्सकाशमुपाद्रवत्

Transliteration

atha teṣāṃ vacaḥ śrutvā bhagavānvṛṣabhadhvajaḥ | kṛtvā rūpaṃ dvijeṃdrasya tatsakāśamupādravat

Translation

သူတို့၏စကားကို ကြားသော်၊ နွားတံခွန်ကို ဆောင်သော ဘုရားရှင်သည် အထက်မြတ်သော ဗြာဟ္မဏ၏ ရုပ်ကို ဆောင်ယူကာ ထိုနေရာသို့ ချက်ချင်း အလျင်အမြန် သွားလေ၏။

Word by Word

• atha: then
• atha: Sambandha (Discourse connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; आरम्भ/अनन्तरार्थक (then/now)

• teṣām: of them
• teṣām: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• vacaḥ: words, speech
• vacaḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vacas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन (समूहार्थे)

• śrutvā: having heard
• śrutvā: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śru (श्रु) (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त (absolutive/gerund), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया (having heard)

• bhagavān: the Blessed Lord
• bhagavān: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhagavat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• vṛṣabhadhvajaḥ: he whose banner is the bull (Śiva)
• vṛṣabhadhvajaḥ: Karta (Subject apposition/कर्तृसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛṣabha + dhvaja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; बहुव्रीहि (यस्य ध्वजः वृषभः)

• kṛtvā: having made/assumed
• kṛtvā: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (कृ) (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त (absolutive), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया (having made/assumed)

• rūpam: a form
• rūpam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• dvijendrasya: of the best of twice-born (brahmins)
• dvijendrasya: Sambandha (Genitive qualifier/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija + indra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (द्विजानाम् इन्द्रः)

• tat: of him/that
• tat: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; 'तस्य' अर्थे (of him/that)

• sakāśam: near, into the presence
• sakāśam: Adhikarana (Goal/location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sakāśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावार्थे (near, presence)

• upādravat: ran up, approached quickly
• upādravat: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: upa-√dru (द्रु) (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/past), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; उपसर्ग: उप-

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration; Śiva is the acting figure)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer (ṛṣi/assembly)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva, bull-bannered, instantly assumes the form of a radiant brāhmaṇa and rushes toward the sage’s location; motion and transformation are central.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Vṛṣabhadhvaja (Śiva)
• brāhmaṇa (dvijendra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Lord may approach devotees in unexpected forms; reverence and readiness for dharmic encounter are essential in tīrtha narratives.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse sits within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya framework; the immediate shloka itself does not name a specific tīrtha, but advances the pilgrimage-legend setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it is narrative setup (Śiva’s approach in disguise).