Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 37

Devanagari script

सन्ध्याभ्ररक्तोत्पलपद्मरागसिन्दूरविद्युत्प्रकरारुणेन । ततेन लिङ्गेन च लोचनेन चिक्रीडमानः स युगान्तकाले

Transliteration

sandhyābhraraktotpalapadmarāgasindūravidyutprakarāruṇena | tatena liṅgena ca locanena cikrīḍamānaḥ sa yugāntakāle

Translation

Am Ende des Zeitalters spielte er: Seine Gestalt war von einem Rot durchglüht wie Abendwolken, rote Lotos, Rubine, Zinnober und Blitze. Und mit dem offenbarten Liṅga und mit seinem Auge trieb er sein göttliches Spiel.

Word by Word

• सन्ध्याभ्ररक्तोत्पलपद्मरागसिन्दूरविद्युत्प्रकरारुणेन: with a redness like twilight-clouds, red lotuses, ruby, vermilion, and flashes of lightning
• सन्ध्याभ्ररक्तोत्पलपद्मरागसिन्दूरविद्युत्प्रकरारुणेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सन्ध्या + अभ्र + रक्त + उत्पल + पद्मराग + सिन्दूर + विद्युत् + प्रकर + अरुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः (उपमान-समुच्चयः) — सन्ध्या-अभ्र-रक्त-उत्पल-पद्मराग-सिन्दूर-विद्युत्-प्रकरवत् अरुणः

• ततेन: with that
• ततेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• लिङ्गेन: with the liṅga (emblem)
• लिङ्गेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• लोचनेन: with (his) eye
• लोचनेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोचन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• चिक्रीडमानः: playing, sporting
• चिक्रीडमानः: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √क्रीड् (धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; वर्तमानकाले शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (present active participle), पुनरुक्त-आगम (चि-); ‘playing/sporting’

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• युगान्तकाले: at the end of an age
• युगान्तकाले: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युगान्त + काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (युगस्य अन्तः)

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Śiva-liṅga (as cosmic axis) within Avantī/Revā narrative

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At yugānta, Śiva ‘sports’ in a storm of crimson: twilight clouds, red lotus, ruby, vermilion, and lightning; his manifested liṅga stands as a blazing axis while his eye (third eye/sun-eye) projects power—creation and dissolution intertwined.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Liṅga
• Yugānta (end of age)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even dissolution is depicted as the Lord’s līlā (divine play), suggesting surrender to cosmic order and reverence for Śiva’s mystery.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No particular site is named in this verse; the focus is Śiva’s yugānta manifestation.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicit.