Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 53

Devanagari script

पाराशरं भागवतं कौर्मं चाष्टादशं क्रमात् । एतान्युपपुराणानि मयोक्तानि यथाक्रमम्

Transliteration

pārāśaraṃ bhāgavataṃ kaurmaṃ cāṣṭādaśaṃ kramāt | etānyupapurāṇāni mayoktāni yathākramam

Translation

«(Darauf folgen) das Pārāśara, das Bhāgavata und das Kaurma—so, der Reihe nach, die achtzehn. Diese Upapurāṇas habe ich, wie sie aufeinander folgen, der Ordnung gemäß verkündet.»

Word by Word

• pārāśaram: (the) Pārāśara
• pārāśaram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pārāśara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; नाम (title-name)

• bhāgavatam: (the) Bhāgavata
• bhāgavatam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāgavata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; नाम (title-name)

• kaurmam: (the) Kaurma
• kaurmam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kaurma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; नाम (title-name)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक निपात (conjunction)

• aṣṭādaśam: eighteen (in number)
• aṣṭādaśam: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭādaśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; संख्यावाचक (18th/‘eighteen’ as count) द्विगु-प्रकृति

• kramāt: in order/according to sequence
• kramāt: Hetu/Apādāna (Ablative basis/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: krama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5), एकवचन; हेतौ/क्रमे (ablative: ‘in due order/according to sequence’)

• etāni: these
• etāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• upapurāṇāni: Upapurāṇas (subsidiary Purāṇas)
• upapurāṇāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: upa (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + purāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; उप-तत्पुरुष (‘उपपुराण’ = subsidiary purāṇas)

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3), एकवचन

• uktāni: said/mentioned
• uktāni: Visheshana (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ukta (कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त √vac (वच्) ‘to say’

• yathā-kramam: in proper sequence
• yathā-kramam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय) + krama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; क्रियाविशेषण (adverbial): ‘as per order’

Speaker

Sūta (deduced from Purāṇic cataloguing voice continuing from Adhyāya 1)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Sages/assembly

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage points to a numbered list (1–18) on a manuscript board; disciples mark the sequence with counting beads, emphasizing ‘yathākramam’.

Characters & Entities

• Pārāśara (Upapurāṇa)
• Bhāgavata (Upapurāṇa)
• Kaurma (Upapurāṇa)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma is safeguarded through orderly transmission—naming and sequencing texts signals a disciplined sacred tradition.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not specified in this verse; it functions as a preface before the Revā/Narmadā tīrtha-mahātmya narrative expands.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the focus is on listing and affirming the corpus of Upapurāṇas.