Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 13

Devanagari script

प्लक्षमूले ततस्तस्य वेगेनापहृतं बलात् । तद्रक्तं तेन संपूर्णं ततस्तेन महानदी

Transliteration

plakṣamūle tatastasya vegenāpahṛtaṃ balāt | tadraktaṃ tena saṃpūrṇaṃ tatastena mahānadī

Translation

แล้ว ณ โคนต้นปลักษะ โลหิตของนางถูกกระแสน้ำเชี่ยวกรากพัดพาไปด้วยกำลัง ครั้นเต็มไปด้วยโลหิตนั้น ก็เกิดเป็นมหานทีจากสิ่งนั้น

Word by Word

• प्लक्षमूले: at the root of the plakṣa tree
• प्लक्षमूले: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्लक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + मूल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन — Locative singular; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (प्लक्षस्य मूलम्)

• ततः: then/from there
• ततः: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रम/हेतु) — adverb 'then/from there'

• तस्य: of him/of that
• तस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन — Genitive singular

• वेगेन: by force/with speed
• वेगेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन — Instrumental singular

• अपहृतम्: was carried away
• अपहृतम्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अप-√हृ (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — past passive participle (carried away)

• बलात्: by force
• बलात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन — Ablative singular; adverbial sense 'by force'

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — 'that' (referring to water/flow)

• रक्तम्: red/bloody
• रक्तम्: Kriya-anvaya (Predicate complement)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — predicate adjective 'reddened/bloody'

• तेन: by that/with that
• तेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंस/पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन — Instrumental singular

• संपूर्णम्: completely filled
• संपूर्णम्: Kriya-anvaya (Predicate complement)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संपूर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — predicate adjective

• ततः: then
• ततः: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रम) — 'then'

• तेन: by that
• तेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन — Instrumental singular

• महानदी: the great river
• महानदी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + नदी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन — Nominative singular; कर्मधारयः (महती नदी)

Speaker

Sūta (deduced from immediate chapter context; explicit in 174.1)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Plakṣa-mūla-tīrtha (as a sub-spot within the Sarasvatī cycle)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: brāhmaṇas/dvijas

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At the base of a plakṣa tree, a surging current sweeps away blood; the river grows vast and powerful, depicted as a crimson-tinged flood transforming into a majestic nādī.

Characters & Entities

• Plakṣa (tree)
• Sarasvatī (context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic sacred geography treats natural features—especially rivers—as divinely charged events, inviting reverence and pilgrimage-minded remembrance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Śrīhāṭakeśvara-kṣetra context within the Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya, where the Sarasvatī-related episode is narrated.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly in this verse; it is etiological (explaining the river’s arising).