Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 12
सर्वौषधीनामशनं प्रधानं सर्वेषु पेयेषु जलं प्रधानम् । निद्रा सुखानां प्रमदा रतीनां सर्वेषु गात्रेषु शिरः प्रधानम्
sarvauṣadhīnāmaśanaṃ pradhānaṃ sarveṣu peyeṣu jalaṃ pradhānam | nidrā sukhānāṃ pramadā ratīnāṃ sarveṣu gātreṣu śiraḥ pradhānam
সকলো ঔষধৰ ভিতৰত আহাৰেই শ্ৰেষ্ঠ; সকলো পানীয়ৰ ভিতৰত জলেই শ্ৰেষ্ঠ। সকলো সুখৰ ভিতৰত নিদ্ৰাই শ্ৰেষ্ঠ; ৰতি-আনন্দৰ ভিতৰত প্ৰিয়া শ্ৰেষ্ঠ। সকলো অঙ্গৰ ভিতৰত শিৰই শ্ৰেষ্ঠ।
Mārkaṇḍeya
Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira (addressed as nṛpasattama in the sequence)
Scene: A sage instructs a king with a sequence of emblematic vignettes: a bowl of nourishing food, a clear water vessel, a sleeping figure, a loving couple, and a crowned head highlighted as the chief limb—arranged like a didactic tableau.
FAQs
Purāṇic teaching often uses everyday hierarchies to prepare the listener for recognizing the ‘foremost’ among sacred things.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as an analogy supporting the coming praise of Śuklatīrtha/Narmadā.
None; it is a proverbial, instructional verse.