Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

यावत्पश्यामि मध्याह्ने स्नानकाल उपस्थिते । त्रैलोक्यं ज्वलनाकारं दुर्निरीक्षं दुरासदम्

Transliteration

yāvatpaśyāmi madhyāhne snānakāla upasthite | trailokyaṃ jvalanākāraṃ durnirīkṣaṃ durāsadam

Translation

Als ich zur Mittagszeit schaute, als die Stunde des rituellen Bades gekommen war, sah ich die drei Welten die Gestalt lodernden Feuers annehmen—nicht anzublicken und nicht zu nahen.

Word by Word

• yāvat: as long as; until
• yāvat: Sambandha (Temporal relation/कालसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालपरिमाणवाचक/यावदर्थे (temporal limit: 'as long as/until')

• paśyāmi: I see
• paśyāmi: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: paś (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपद

• madhyāhne: at midday
• madhyāhne: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: madhyāhna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• snāna-kāle: at the time of bathing
• snāna-kāle: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: snāna (प्रातिपदिक) + kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (snānasya kālaḥ)

• upasthite: having arrived; present
• upasthite: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: upa-sthā (धातु) → upasthita (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), सप्तमी एकवचन, पुं/नपुं (context: kāle); 'present/arrived'

• trailokyam: the three worlds
• trailokyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (त्रयः लोकाः)

• jvalana-ākāram: having the form of fire
• jvalana-ākāram: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jvalana (प्रातिपदिक) + ākāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (ज्वलनस्य आकारः)

• dur-nirīkṣam: hard to look at
• dur-nirīkṣam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dur (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + nir-īkṣ (धातु) → nirīkṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; उपपद-तत्पुरुष/नञ्-सदृश (दुष्करं निरीक्षणं यस्य)

• dur-āsadam: hard to approach
• dur-āsadam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dur (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + āsad (धातु) → āsada (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (दुष्करम् आसादनम्/उपगमनम् यस्य)

Speaker

A first-person narrator within Revā-khaṇḍa (speaker not explicit in the excerpt; treated as the experiencing voice of the episode)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Addressed as ‘tāta’ (dear one/son) indicating an interlocutor in dialogue

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At midday by the Revā, the seer beholds the three worlds as a single mass of intolerable flame—an apocalyptic, tejas-filled panorama—while the riverbank remains a potential sanctuary.

Characters & Entities

• Trailokya (three worlds)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Cosmic dissolution overwhelms ordinary human capacity; sacred times and acts (like snāna) are meaningful only when anchored in devotion and dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Revā/Narmadā milieu frames the narrative; the verse itself describes a universal fiery condition.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (bathing) is referenced as a time-marker, not as a detailed prescription.