Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 2
Devanagari script
यस्य मध्यगतो नित्यं स्वयमेव महेश्वरः । महाकालस्वरूपेण स तिष्ठति द्विजोत्तमाः
Transliteration
yasya madhyagato nityaṃ svayameva maheśvaraḥ | mahākālasvarūpeṇa sa tiṣṭhati dvijottamāḥ
Translation
在其正中央，摩诃伊湿伐罗亲自恒常安住；以大黑天（Mahākāla）之形，祂稳固建立于彼处，噢最胜的二次生者。
Word by Word
यस्यwhose
यस्य:
Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
TypeNoun
Rootयद् (सर्वनाम/प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सम्बन्धे ‘whose/of which’
मध्यगतःsituated in the middle
मध्यगतः:
Karta-visheshana (Subject qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rootमध्य (प्रातिपदिक) + गत (गम् धातु + क्त)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: ‘मध्ये गतः’; भूतकृदन्त (क्त/ppp)
नित्यम्always
नित्यम्:
Kriya-visheshana (Temporal modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootनित्यम् (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय (कालवाचक/adverb of time): ‘always’
स्वयम्himself
स्वयम्:
Karta-visheshana (Emphatic/कर्तृविशेषणार्थ)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootस्वयम् (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय (निपात/particle): ‘by oneself’
एवindeed
एव:
Sambandha (Emphasis/निपात)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootएव (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय (निपात): अवधारण ‘indeed’
महेश्वरःMaheśvara (Śiva)
महेश्वरः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootमहा (प्रातिपदिक) + ईश्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय: ‘महान् ईश्वरः’
महाकालस्वरूपेणin the form of Mahākāla
महाकालस्वरूपेण:
Karana (Instrument/means/करण)
TypeNoun
Rootमहाकाल (प्रातिपदिक) + स्वरूप (प्रातिपदिक)
Formनपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘महाकालस्य स्वरूपेण’
सःhe
सः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootतद् (सर्वनाम/प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन
तिष्ठतिstands, abides
तिष्ठति:
Kriya (Main verb/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootस्था (धातु)
Formलट् (Present/वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद
द्विजोत्तमाःO best of the twice-born
द्विजोत्तमाः:
Sambodhana/Addressed (Vocative sense/सम्बोधनार्थ)
TypeNoun
Rootद्विज (प्रातिपदिक) + उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘द्विजानाम् उत्तमाः’ (used in vocative sense)
Speaker
Sūta (continuing description)
Tirtha Mahatmya
Tirtha: Ujjayinī—Mahākāla-sthāna
Type: kshetra
Skanda Dialogue
Listener: dvijottamāḥ (addressed)
Visual Art Cues
Scene: At the city’s center stands Mahākāla: a powerful Śiva presence, timeless and still, with the sense of time itself gathered into a sanctum.
Characters & Entities
M
MaheśvaraŚ
ŚivaM
MahākālaU
UjjayinīFAQs
A tīrtha becomes supremely efficacious when it is understood as the living presence of Śiva—here, as Mahākāla.
Ujjayinī, where Śiva is said to abide in the form of Mahākāla.
None explicitly; the verse establishes the theological basis for later worship and pilgrimage merit.