Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

उपर्युपरि तेषां च कर्दमेन द्विजोत्तमाः । चक्रे लिंगानि नित्यं स सप्तविंशतिसंख्यया

Transliteration

uparyupari teṣāṃ ca kardamena dvijottamāḥ | cakre liṃgāni nityaṃ sa saptaviṃśatisaṃkhyayā

Translation

اور اُن کے اوپر تہہ در تہہ، مٹی کے گارے سے اُس برہمنِ افضل نے نِتّیہ لِنگ بنائے—کل ستائیس کی تعداد میں۔

Word by Word

• उपरि: above
• उपरि: Adhikaraṇa (Locative sense)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उपरि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (locative adverb) — 'above'

• उपरि: one above another
• उपरि: Adhikaraṇa (Locative sense)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उपरि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, पुनरुक्ति (repetition for emphasis) — 'again above/one over another'

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचनम् — 'of them'

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चय (conjunction) — 'and'

• कर्दमेन: with mud
• कर्दमेन: Karana (Instrument/Means)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्दम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचनम् — 'with mud/clay'

• द्विजोत्तमाः: the best Brahmins
• द्विजोत्तमाः: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विजोत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचनम् — 'excellent Brahmins'

• चक्रे: made
• चक्रे: Kriya (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd), एकवचनम्, परस्मैपदम् — 'made/did'

• लिंगानि: liṅgas
• लिंगानि: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिंग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचनम् — 'liṅgas'

• नित्यम्: always
• नित्यम्: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Temporal/Frequency)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव/क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण (adverbial accusative), नपुंसक द्वितीया एकवचन-प्रयोगः — 'always/regularly'

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचनम् — सर्वनाम — 'he'

• सप्तविंशतिसंख्यया: by the count of twenty-seven
• सप्तविंशतिसंख्यया: Karana (Measure/Instrumental of measure)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सप्तविंशति (प्रातिपदिक) + संख्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचनम् — 'by the number twenty-seven'

Speaker

Narrator (implied Purāṇic narrator; likely Sūta in the Nāgara-khaṇḍa frame)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The brāhmaṇa kneads wet clay (kardama) and shapes liṅgas, stacking them carefully one above another; twenty-seven small liṅgas form a tiered mound on a sanctified patch of earth.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva-liṅga
• dvijottama (brāhmaṇa)
• kardama (clay)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Steady devotional practice (nitya-kriyā) sanctifies even simple materials like clay when offered with faith.

Which specific holy site (Tīrtha) is glorified here?

The passage belongs to the Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya, connected with the Nāgareśvara-liṅga tradition and its surrounding sacred locale.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The practice of forming and establishing multiple liṅgas (here, 27) as an act of ongoing worship.