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
সমস্ত ঔষধের মধ্যে আহারই প্রধান, সকল পানীয়ের মধ্যে জলই প্রধান। সুখের মধ্যে নিদ্রা শ্রেষ্ঠ, রতির আনন্দে প্রিয় প্রমদা শ্রেষ্ঠ; আর সকল অঙ্গের মধ্যে শির (মস্তক) প্রধান।
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.