Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

वाल्लभ्यात्तव मे भद्रे कथितं वै वरानने । अष्टषष्टिः प्रगम्यानि भक्त्या तीर्थानि मानवैः

Transliteration

vāllabhyāttava me bhadre kathitaṃ vai varānane | aṣṭaṣaṣṭiḥ pragamyāni bhaktyā tīrthāni mānavaiḥ

Translation

โอ้ผู้เป็นมงคล โอ้สตรีผู้มีพักตร์งาม ด้วยความรักต่อเจ้า เราจึงกล่าวโดยแท้ว่า มีทีรถะศักดิ์สิทธิ์หกสิบแปดแห่ง ที่มนุษย์พึงไปด้วยศรัทธาภักดี

Word by Word

• वल्लभ्यात्: from (my) beloved
• वल्लभ्यात्: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वल्लभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी) एकवचन

• तव: your
• तव: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: षष्ठी एकवचन; युष्मद्-शब्द

• मे: to me / for me
• मे: Sampradana (Dative sense)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: षष्ठी/चतुर्थी एकवचन; अस्मद्-शब्द (enclitic)

• भद्रे: O auspicious one
• भद्रे: Sambodhana (Vocative/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे सम्बोधन एकवचन

• कथितम्: has been told
• कथितम्: Kriya (Predicate participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कथित (√कथ् धातु; क्त-प्रत्यय, कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकृदन्त (passive sense)

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha-bodhaka (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle; emphasis/निश्चयार्थक)

• वरानने: O fair-faced one
• वरानने: Sambodhana (Vocative/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर-आनन (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे सम्बोधन एकवचन; कर्मधारयः—‘वरं आननं यस्याः’

• अष्टषष्टिः: sixty-eight
• अष्टषष्टिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्ट-षष्टि (संख्याप्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचन; संख्या ‘68’; द्वन्द्व-समास (अष्ट + षष्टिः)

• प्रगम्यानि: to be visited
• प्रगम्यानि: Visheshana (Qualifier of तीर्थानि)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रगम्य (प्र+√गम् धातु; यत्/अनीयर्-प्रायः भाव; कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचन; गेरुण्डिव/कृत्य-प्रत्ययान्त—‘गन्तव्यानि/प्रापणीयानि’ (to be visited)

• भक्त्या: with devotion
• भक्त्या: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भक्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे तृतीया एकवचन

• तीर्थानि: pilgrimage places
• तीर्थानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचन

• मानवैः: by humans
• मानवैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे तृतीया बहुवचन

Speaker

Śiva (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Aṣṭaṣaṣṭi-tīrtha-samuccaya (set of 68 tīrthas)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (addressed as bhadrā/varānanā)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A map-like narrative tableau: Devī receiving a revealed list; in the background, a procession of pilgrims moving from shrine to shrine, suggesting a chain of 68 sacred stops.

Characters & Entities

• Devī
• Tīrthas (sixty-eight)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pilgrimage is framed as a devotional discipline: holy places yield their fruit when approached with bhakti, not mere travel.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse highlights the canonical set of sixty-eight tīrthas as a whole; individual sites are named in subsequent verses.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Devotional visitation (bhaktyā pragamyāni)—the instruction is to undertake tīrtha-yātrā with devotion.