Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

यथैव वर्षतो धारा यथा वा दिवि तारकाः । गंगायां सिकता यद्वत्संख्यया परिवर्जिताः

Transliteration

yathaiva varṣato dhārā yathā vā divi tārakāḥ | gaṃgāyāṃ sikatā yadvatsaṃkhyayā parivarjitāḥ

Translation

جیسے برستی بارش کی دھاریں، یا آسمان کے ستارے، یا گنگا کی ریت کے ذرّات شمار سے باہر ہیں—اسی طرح وہ بھی بے شمار ہیں۔

Word by Word

• यथा: as, just as
• यथा: Sambandha (Comparative marker/उपमान-सूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Comparative particle/उपमा)

• एव: indeed, just
• एव: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Emphatic particle/अवधारण)

• वर्षतः: of (the one) raining / of rain
• वर्षतः: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्षत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कृदन्त (शतृ-प्रत्यय, present participle), पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (Genitive), एकवचन; √वृष् (धातु)

• धारा: stream, shower
• धारा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धारा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• यथा: as
• यथा: Sambandha (Comparative marker/उपमान-सूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Comparative particle/उपमा)

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Alternative/disjunctive particle/विकल्प)

• दिवि: in the sky
• दिवि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिव् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन

• तारकाः: stars
• तारकाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तारका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• गंगायाम्: in the Ganga
• गंगायाम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गङ्गा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• सिकताः: sand grains
• सिकताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सिकता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• यद्वत्: just as
• यद्वत्: Sambandha (Comparative marker/उपमान-सूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यद्वत् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (Comparative particle/उपमा)

• संख्यया: by number, by counting
• संख्यया: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संख्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• परिवर्जिताः: excluded, left out (i.e., innumerable)
• परिवर्जिताः: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (Predicate adjective/समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परि + वर्ज् (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; √वर्ज् + परि- उपसर्ग

Speaker

Sūta

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā (invoked as exemplar)

Type: river

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic tableau: rain-streams falling in countless threads, a star-filled sky, and the Gaṅgā’s shore with endless sand—visualizing ‘beyond counting’.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā
• Stars
• Rain-streams

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic māhātmyas use cosmic and sacred-natural imagery to convey immeasurable scale—of merit, beings, or qualities—beyond ordinary counting.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gaṅgā is invoked as the benchmark of sacred vastness; the chapter’s main tīrtha remains the narrative focus, with Gaṅgā used as a revered comparison.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse is a poetic comparison emphasizing innumerability.