Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 14

Devanagari script

नागा दैत्याश्च पाताले त्रिधैतत्परिकल्पितम् । ऐकैकं सप्तधाभूय ततस्तेन प्रकल्पितम्

Transliteration

nāgā daityāśca pātāle tridhaitatparikalpitam | aikaikaṃ saptadhābhūya tatastena prakalpitam

Translation

پاتال میں ناگ اور دَیتیہ رہتے ہیں؛ اس لوک کو تین حصوں میں تصور کیا گیا ہے۔ پھر ان میں سے ہر ایک حصہ سات سات گنا ہو گیا—یوں اس نے ترتیب قائم کی۔

Word by Word

• nāgāḥ: nāgas (serpents)
• nāgāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• daityāḥ: daityas (demons)
• daityāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: daitya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

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

• pātāle: in the netherworld
• pātāle: Adhikarana (Place/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pātāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• tridhā: in threefold manner
• tridhā: Adverbial (Kriyāviśeṣaṇa/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tridhā (अव्यय)
• Form: परिमाण/प्रकारवाचक-अव्यय (in three parts)

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन

• parikalpitam: was arranged/constructed
• parikalpitam: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari-kḷp (धातु) → parikalpita (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; कर्मणि/भावे—‘was arranged/constructed’

• aikaikam: each (one)
• aikaikam: Adverbial (Kriyāviśeṣaṇa/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) (पुनरुक्त-प्रयोग)
• Form: अव्ययीभाववत् क्रियाविशेषण; ‘एक-एकम्’ (distributive: each one)

• saptadhā: sevenfold
• saptadhā: Adverbial (Kriyāviśeṣaṇa/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: saptadhā (अव्यय)
• Form: परिमाणवाचक-अव्यय (in seven parts)

• bhūya: having become
• bhūya: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: bhū (धातु) → bhūya (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त/ल्यप्-प्रत्यय (absolutive/gerund) अर्थे—‘भूत्वा’ (having become)

• tataḥ: then, thereafter
• tataḥ: Adverbial (Kriyāviśeṣaṇa/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनन्तरार्थक (thereafter)

• tena: by him/that
• tena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंस, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन

• prakalpitam: was arranged/ordained
• prakalpitam: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-kḷp (धातु) → prakalpita (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; कर्मणि/भावे—‘was duly arranged’

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) (deduced from Māheśvara-khaṇḍa narrative style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Pātāla-lokas (generic)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Bhārata (addressed)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A subterranean jeweled realm: Nāgas with hoods and gem-crowns, Daityas in fortified cities, luminous nāga-maṇis lighting cavernous palaces; schematic threefold then sevenfold divisions hinted as layered caverns.

Characters & Entities

• Nāga
• Daitya
• Pātāla

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The universe is portrayed as divinely ordered; even hidden realms like Pātāla have a structured, purposeful arrangement within dhārmic cosmology.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is praised in this verse; it functions as cosmographic teaching within the Skanda Purāṇa’s broader sacred-geography framework.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None is stated here; the verse is descriptive (cosmological enumeration), not prescriptive (vrata/dāna/snānādi).