Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 54

Devanagari script

एतत्कृतयुगे प्रोक्तं मंत्रसाधनमुत्त मम् । सर्वेषां साधकानां च मया प्रोक्तं द्विजोत्तम

Transliteration

etatkṛtayuge proktaṃ maṃtrasādhanamutta mam | sarveṣāṃ sādhakānāṃ ca mayā proktaṃ dvijottama

Translation

วิธีปฏิบัติมนตร์อันประเสริฐยิ่งนี้ ได้ประกาศไว้สำหรับกฤตยุค และข้าได้กล่าวสอนแก่บรรดาผู้ปฏิบัติทั้งปวง โอ้ทวิชะผู้ประเสริฐ

Word by Word

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg)

• kṛta-yuge: in the Kṛta age
• kṛta-yuge: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛta (प्रातिपदिक) + yuga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), सप्तमी (Loc. 7), एकवचन (sg); तत्पुरुष: ‘in the Kṛta-yuga’

• proktam: taught/declared
• proktam: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया-विशेष)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra+vac (धातु) → prokta (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg)

• mantra-sādhanam: mantra-practice/means of mantra
• mantra-sādhanam: Apposition (Samānādhikaraṇa/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mantra (प्रातिपदिक) + sādhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg); तत्पुरुष: ‘means/practice of mantra’

• uttamam: excellent
• uttamam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg); (agreeing with mantrasādhanam)

• sarveṣām: of all
• sarveṣām: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m), षष्ठी (Gen. 6), बहुवचन (pl)

• sādhakānām: of practitioners
• sādhakānām: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sādhaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m), षष्ठी (Gen. 6), बहुवचन (pl)

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

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Kartr-karana (Agent in passive/कर्ता-करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-प्रत्यय (1st person pronoun), तृतीया (Instr. 3), एकवचन (sg)

• proktam: taught/declared
• proktam: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया-विशेष)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra+vac (धातु) → prokta (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg)

• dvija-uttama: O best of Brahmins
• dvija-uttama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक) + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m), सम्बोधन (Voc. 8), एकवचन (sg); कर्मधारय: ‘best of the twice-born’

Speaker

Unspecified (addressing a dvija; likely a teacher/narrator within the episode)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Dvijottama

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic scene: Skanda as divine teacher addressing a venerable brāhmaṇa, with palm-leaf manuscripts and a calm sacred backdrop, indicating transmission of mantra-sādhana across ages.

Characters & Entities

• Kṛtayuga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Spiritual disciplines are framed by yuga-dharma; the tradition remembers an ideal standard in Kṛta Yuga.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching occurs within a tīrtha-glorifying narrative (Tīrthamāhātmya), with the named pīṭha emerging more explicitly later (e.g., Cित्रेश्वर-pīṭha).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Mantra-sādhana (disciplined mantra practice) as an ‘uttama’ method, contextualized by yuga.