Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 65

Devanagari script

तदा तस्य शिरश्छिन्नं राहोर्दुर्विग्रहस्य च । शिवरो गगनमापेदे कबंधं च महीतले । भ्रममाणं तदा ह्यद्रींश्चूर्णयामास वै तदा

Transliteration

tadā tasya śiraśchinnaṃ rāhordurvigrahasya ca | śivaro gaganamāpede kabaṃdhaṃ ca mahītale | bhramamāṇaṃ tadā hyadrīṃścūrṇayāmāsa vai tadā

Translation

حينئذ قُطع رأس "راهو" المشوه؛ فصعد الرأس إلى السماء، بينما سقط الجذع على الأرض. وبينما كان الجسد يدور، سحق الجبال وحولها إلى فتات.

Word by Word

• tadā: then
• tadā: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal adverb: 'then')

• tasya: of him/its
• tasya: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन (Singular)

• śiraḥ: head
• śiraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiras (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• chinnam: cut off
• chinnam: Karta (Subject complement/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: chid (धातु) + kta (क्त) → chinna (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying śiraḥ)

• rāhoḥ: of Rāhu
• rāhoḥ: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• durvigrahasya: of the formidable (one)
• durvigrahasya: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive qualifier/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dur (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + vigraha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (उपपद-तत्पुरुष: दुर्विग्रह = 'difficult to fight/terrible-bodied'); पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying rāhoḥ)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Coordination/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• śivaraḥ: Śivara (name)
• śivaraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śivara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• gaganam: the sky
• gaganam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gagana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• āpede: went/reached
• āpede: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā + pad (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम

• kabaṃdham: the trunk (headless body)
• kabaṃdham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kabaṃdha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Coordination/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• mahītale: on the earth’s surface
• mahītale: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahī-tala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: महीतल = 'surface of the earth'); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• bhramamāṇam: wandering/spinning
• bhramamāṇam: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhram (धातु) + śatṛ (शतृ) → bhramamāṇa (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त वर्तमानकाले कृदन्त (present active participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying kabaṃdham)

• tadā: then
• tadā: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha-bodhaka (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle: emphasis/indeed)

• adrīn: mountains
• adrīn: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adri (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन (Plural)

• cūrṇayāmāsa: pulverized/crushed
• cūrṇayāmāsa: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: cūrṇ (धातु) + ṇic (णिच्) + āsa (लिट्-परिप्रयोग)
• Form: णिजन्त-धातु (causative) + लिट्-परिप्रयोग (periphrastic perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदम

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha-bodhaka (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle: emphasis)

• tadā: then
• tadā: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) speaking to the sages (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Nivāsa (near the crushing spot)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly of sages (standard Purāṇic frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Rāhu’s severed head shoots upward into the sky while the trunk crashes to earth; the headless body whirls like a cyclone, smashing Himalayan ridges into dust under a storm-darkened firmament.

Characters & Entities

• Rāhu

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Adharma pursued for immortality becomes self-destructive; cosmic law restores balance, yet its shockwaves affect the world.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Within Kedārakhaṇḍa, this upheaval functions as a mythic explanation for sanctified locales and their names in the Kedāra region.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse depicts cosmic consequences rather than a ritual injunction.