Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 69

Devanagari script

पश्यन्तौ विविधां घोरां नरके लोकयातनाम् । त्रिंशत्कोट्यो हि घोराणां नरकाणां नृपोत्तम

Transliteration

paśyantau vividhāṃ ghorāṃ narake lokayātanām | triṃśatkoṭyo hi ghorāṇāṃ narakāṇāṃ nṛpottama

Translation

Als die beiden die vielfältigen, schaurigen Qualen der Wesen in der Hölle erblickten, (sprach der Erzähler): „O Bester der Könige, es gibt dreißig Krore furchtbarer Höllen.“

Word by Word

• paśyantau: (two) seeing
• paśyantau: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: paś (धातु √पश्)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ/Present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), द्विवचन; (two) seeing

• vividhām: various
• vividhām: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vividha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• ghorām: terrible
• ghorām: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ghora (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• narake: in hell
• narake: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• loka-yātanām: the torment of people
• loka-yātanām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक) + yātanā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (torment of beings/people)

• triṃśat-koṭyaḥ: thirty crores
• triṃśat-koṭyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: triṃśat (संख्या) + koṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; समासः—द्विगु (thirty crores)

• hi: indeed
• hi: Nipāta (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: हेतौ/निश्चये निपात (for/indeed)

• ghorāṇām: of terrible (ones)
• ghorāṇām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ghora (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; विशेषण

• narakāṇām: of hells
• narakāṇām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• nṛpa-uttama: O best of kings
• nṛpa-uttama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛpa (प्रातिपदिक) + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन; समासः—कर्मधारय (best of kings)

Speaker

Narrator addressing a king (nṛpottama indicates an interlocutor king)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A king (unnamed here)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Two figures gaze upon a vast infernal panorama: countless pits, furnaces, and instruments of torment; the narrator addresses a king, emphasizing the innumerable hell-realms.

Characters & Entities

• Naraka (hell realms)
• King (listener, unspecified)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Karmic consequence is vast and variegated; the Purāṇa uses cosmological scale to urge ethical restraint and tīrtha-oriented dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Indirectly, the Narmadā tīrtha’s saving power is highlighted by contrast with the terrors of naraka.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None here; it introduces the scope of hells as part of a didactic journey narrative.