Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 55

Devanagari script

अपि वर्षशतानारी स्नात्वा कुण्डे सुतप्रदे । अटेश्वरं ततः पश्येच्छिवभक्तिपरायणा

Transliteration

api varṣaśatānārī snātvā kuṇḍe sutaprade | aṭeśvaraṃ tataḥ paśyecchivabhaktiparāyaṇā

Translation

اگر کوئی عورت سو برس تک بے اولاد رہی ہو، تو بیٹا عطا کرنے والے کُنڈ میں اشنان کرکے، پھر شِو بھکتی میں یکسو ہو کر اَٹیشور کے درشن کرے۔

Word by Word

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अपि = even/also (particle)

• varṣa: year
• varṣa: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद-नामपद, नपुंसकलिङ्ग

• śata: hundred
• śata: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद-नामपद, नपुंसकलिङ्ग

• anārī: a long-childless woman (for a hundred years)
• anārī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anārī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः: varṣa-śata-anārī (तत्पुरुषः; ‘वर्षशतं यावत् अनार्य/असन्तानिका’—contextually ‘childless woman for a hundred years’)

• snātvā: having bathed
• snātvā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √snā (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), ‘having bathed’

• kuṇḍe: in the pond
• kuṇḍe: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kuṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• suta: son/child
• suta: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: suta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद-नामपद, पुंलिङ्ग

• prade: in the son-giving (pond)
• prade: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prada (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; समासः: suta-prada (तत्पुरुषः), ‘kuṇḍe’ इति विशेषण

• aṭeśvaram: Aṭeśvara (Śiva)
• aṭeśvaram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṭeśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, क्रम/अपादानार्थक (then/from there)

• paśyet: should see
• paśyet: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dṛś (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• śiva: Śiva
• śiva: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद-नामपद, पुंलिङ्ग

• bhakti: devotion
• bhakti: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhakti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद-नामपद, स्त्रीलिङ्ग

• parāyaṇā: devoted/intent on
• parāyaṇā: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parāyaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः: śiva-bhakti-parāyaṇa (तत्पुरुषः)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Sutapradā-kuṇḍa; Aṭeśvara

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Brāhmaṇa interlocutor(s) in tīrtha-māhātmya frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A long-childless woman descends steps into a sacred pond, performs snāna with folded hands, then walks to the shrine for Aṭeśvara darśana, carrying offerings; her face shifts from sorrow to hope.

Characters & Entities

• Aṭeśvara
• suta-prada kuṇḍa (son-bestowing pond)
• Śiva-bhakti

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Tīrtha-snāna joined with Śiva-darśana and devotion is presented as transformative, even in seemingly impossible life conditions.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The suta-prada kuṇḍa and Aṭeśvara within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Bathe in the suta-prada kuṇḍa and then take darśana of Aṭeśvara with Śiva-bhakti.