Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

पूर्वे युगे समाख्यातं नाम नन्दीश्वरेति च । यत्र तप्तं तपो घोरं नन्दिनाम्ना गणेन मे

Transliteration

pūrve yuge samākhyātaṃ nāma nandīśvareti ca | yatra taptaṃ tapo ghoraṃ nandināmnā gaṇena me

Translation

ในกาลก่อน สถานที่นี้เลื่องชื่อว่า ‘นันทีศวร’ ณ ที่นั้น คณะบริวารของเรา นามว่า นันดิน ได้บำเพ็ญตบะอันเคร่งครัดยิ่ง

Word by Word

• पूर्वे: former; earlier
• पूर्वे: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन; ‘युगे’ इति विशेषण

• युगे: in an age (yuga)
• युगे: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन

• समाख्यातम्: was named; was proclaimed
• समाख्यातम्: Kriya (State/क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-आ-ख्या (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (PPP), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• नाम: name
• नाम: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नामन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः)

• नन्दीश्वर: Nandīśvara
• नन्दीश्वर: Karma (Apposition/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नन्दीश्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन; इति-शब्देन उद्धृत-नाम (quoted name)

• इति: thus; as
• इति: Sambandha (Quotation marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उद्धरण-निपात (quotative particle)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक-सम्बन्ध (relative adverb: where)

• तप्तम्: performed; heated (undertaken)
• तप्तम्: Kriya (State/क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तप् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (PPP), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘तपः’ इति विशेषण

• तपः: austerity; penance
• तपः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• घोरम्: terrible; intense
• घोरम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘तपः’ इति विशेषण

• नन्दिनाम्ना: by the name ‘Nandin’
• नन्दिनाम्ना: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नन्दिन् + नामन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), एकवचन; समासः नन्दिनः नाम (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• गणेन: by a group; by a troop
• गणेन: Karana (Agent-instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), एकवचन

• मे: of me; to me
• मे: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी/चतुर्थी-एकवचन (Genitive/Dative singular enclitic)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Nandīśvara (name-layer within Prabhāsa-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An ancient age tableau: the coastal sacred tract of Prabhāsa under a dawn sky; Nandin, Śiva’s gaṇa, performing fierce austerity—matted hair, ash-smeared body, steady gaze—amid rudrākṣa trees and a simple altar, with subtle signs of Śiva’s presence.

Characters & Entities

• Nandīśvara
• Nandin
• Śiva-gaṇa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A tīrtha’s holiness is anchored in exemplary tapas and divine association; the site’s very name preserves that spiritual history.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A Prabhāsa Kṣetra shrine formerly known as Nandīśvara, sanctified by Nandin’s austerities.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite here; it provides etiology (name-origin) and sanctifying history through Nandin’s tapas.