Skanda Purana — Vishnu Khanda, Shloka 73

Devanagari script

एवं षोडशभिश्चंद्रः स्तोतव्यो नामभिः क्रमात्

Transliteration

evaṃ ṣoḍaśabhiścaṃdraḥ stotavyo nāmabhiḥ kramāt

Translation

ਇਸ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਰ ਚੰਦਰਦੇਵ ਦੀ ਸਤੁਤੀ ਕ੍ਰਮਵਾਰ ਸੋਲ੍ਹਾਂ ਨਾਮਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਕਰਨੀ ਚਾਹੀਦੀ ਹੈ।

Word by Word

• एवम्: thus
• एवम्: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रकारार्थक-अव्यय (adverb: ‘thus’)

• षोडशभिः: with sixteen
• षोडशभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षोडशन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: विशेषण-प्रयोगः; नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• चन्द्रः: the Moon
• चन्द्रः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• स्तोतव्यः: is to be praised
• स्तोतव्यः: Vidhi (Obligation predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्तु (धातु) + तव्यत् (कृत्प्रत्यय)
• Form: तव्यत्-कृदन्त (gerundive/future passive participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विधेय-विशेषणम्

• नामभिः: by names
• नामभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नामन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• क्रमात्: in sequence
• क्रमात्: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पञ्चमी-एकवचनरूपेण अव्ययीभाववत् (adverbial ablative: ‘in order/successively’)

Speaker

Brahmā (deduced; Vaiṣṇava-khaṇḍa narration style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ayodhyā-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A restrained devotee in Ayodhyā performs candra-stuti, counting sixteen names on fingers or mālā, with the full moon above and a calm riverbank/ghāṭa ambience.

Characters & Entities

• Candra
• Ṣoḍaśa-nāma (sixteen names)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Disciplined, ordered praise (kramāt) is itself a form of dharma—training attention and devotion.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Ayodhyā is the sacred context where such prescribed worship is said to yield merit.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Recitation of sixteen epithets of the Moon, in sequence, as a formal stotra component.