Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 4

Devanagari script

मार्कण्डेय उवाच । वक्ष्येऽहं श्रूयतां सर्वैः कथेयं पूर्वतः श्रुता

Transliteration

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca | vakṣye'haṃ śrūyatāṃ sarvaiḥ katheyaṃ pūrvataḥ śrutā

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya sprach: Ich werde es verkünden; mögen alle hören—diese Erzählung, wie sie einst von alters her vernommen wurde.

Word by Word

• मार्कण्डेयः: Mārkaṇḍeya
• मार्कण्डेयः: कर्ता (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मार्कण्डेय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: क्रिया (Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• वक्ष्ये: I shall tell
• वक्ष्ये: क्रिया (Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √वच् (धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (Simple Future), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: कर्ता (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• श्रूयताम्: let it be heard
• श्रूयताम्: क्रिया (Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √श्रु (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive): ‘let it be heard’

• सर्वैः: by all
• सर्वैः: कर्ता (Agent in passive/कर्तृकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन; ‘by all’

• कथा: the story
• कथा: कर्ता (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कथा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• इयम्: this
• इयम्: कर्ता (Appositional subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (apposition to ‘kathā’)

• पूर्वतः: formerly, earlier
• पूर्वतः: काल/सम्बन्ध (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पूर्वतः (अव्यय; पूर्व + तस्)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb), ‘formerly/from earlier’

• श्रुता: heard (before)
• श्रुता: विशेषण (Predicate/qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्रुत (कृदन्त; √श्रु (धातु), क्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त; विशेषण (of ‘kathā’)

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: All assembled sages/audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Mārkaṇḍeya rises or gestures, inviting all to listen; sages sit in semicircle, focused attention, palm-leaf texts nearby.

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic teaching is preserved through faithful hearing and retelling; śravaṇa is presented as the doorway to dharma and sacred history.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not specified in this verse; it is the formal commencement of Mārkaṇḍeya’s account within the Revā Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The implied practice is communal listening (śrūyatāṃ sarvaiḥ) to the kathā.