Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 91

Devanagari script

जय दुरवबोध संसारतार कलिकलुषमहार्णवघोरतार । जय सुरासुरदेवगणेश नमो हयवानरसिंहगजेन्द्रमुख

Transliteration

jaya duravabodha saṃsāratāra kalikaluṣamahārṇavaghoratāra | jaya surāsuradevagaṇeśa namo hayavānarasiṃhagajendramukha

Translation

النصر لك—عسيرُ الإدراك، ومع ذلك المُنقِذُ الذي يُعَبِّرُ بالكائناتِ السَّمْسارا؛ المُخلِّصُ المهيب عبرَ محيطِ دَنَسِ كالي المخيف. النصر لك يا ربَّ جموعِ الديفا والأسورا؛ سلامٌ لك يا من تتجلّى وجوهُه كالحصان والقرد والأسد ووجهِ سيّدِ الفيلة.

Word by Word

• jaya: hail!
• jaya: Sambodhana (Vocative address marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: jaya (अव्यय/निपात)
• Form: Avyaya; sambodhana-arthaka udgāra

• duravabodha: O incomprehensible one
• duravabodha: Sambodhana (Addressee)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dur- (उपसर्ग/प्रत्ययार्थ) + avabodha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (8th/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana; dur-avabodha = hard to comprehend

• saṃsāratāra: O deliverer from worldly existence
• saṃsāratāra: Sambodhana (Addressee)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃsāra (प्रातिपदिक) + tāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (8th/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana; saṃsāra-tāra = deliverer across saṃsāra

• kalikaluṣamahārṇavaghoratāra: O deliverer across the dreadful great ocean of Kali’s defilement
• kalikaluṣamahārṇavaghoratāra: Sambodhana (Addressee)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kali (प्रातिपदिक) + kaluṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + arṇava (प्रातिपदिक) + ghora (प्रातिपदिक) + tāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (8th/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana; 'deliverer across the dreadful great ocean of Kali's impurity'

• jaya: hail!
• jaya: Sambodhana (Vocative address marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: jaya (अव्यय/निपात)
• Form: Avyaya; sambodhana-arthaka udgāra

• surāsuradevagaṇeśa: O lord of the hosts of gods and asuras
• surāsuradevagaṇeśa: Sambodhana (Addressee)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura (प्रातिपदिक) + asura (प्रातिपदिक) + deva (प्रातिपदिक) + gaṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + īśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (8th/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana; lord of the hosts of gods (and) asuras

• namo: salutation
• namo: Sambodhana (Salutation marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक; अव्ययीभाव-प्रयोग)
• Form: Avyaya; namaskāra-vācaka nipāta (salutation particle), often governing dative/genitive implicitly

• hayavānarasiṃhagajendramukha: O one with a face (manifesting) horse, monkey, lion, and elephant-lord (aspects)
• hayavānarasiṃhagajendramukha: Sambodhana (Addressee)
• Type: Noun
• Root: haya (प्रातिपदिक) + vānara (प्रातिपदिक) + siṃha (प्रातिपदिक) + gajendra (प्रातिपदिक) + mukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (8th/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana; 'one whose face is (like) horse, monkey, lion, and lordly elephant' (multi-member epithet)

Speaker

A devotee/narratorial voice within Revā Khaṇḍa (stuti-context; precise speaker not stated in the snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (general)

Type: tirtha

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva as cosmic protector with multiple faces—horse, monkey, lion, elephant—standing above a dark ocean labeled Kali-kaluṣa, extending a hand/boat to devotees on the riverbank.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Gaṇeśa
• Kali (age)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śiva is praised as the transcendent yet saving power who carries devotees across saṃsāra, especially amid Kali-yuga’s moral pollution.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The wider Revā (Narmadā) sacred landscape is the setting; the verse functions as a devotional stuti within the Revā Khaṇḍa’s tīrtha-mahātmya frame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated here; the emphasis is on stuti (praise) and namaskāra (salutation) as devotional practice.