Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 31

Devanagari script

तिष्ठसे केन कार्येण त्वमत्र सुरसुन्दरि । सुरासुरगणे नष्टे भ्रमसे लीलयार्णवे

Transliteration

tiṣṭhase kena kāryeṇa tvamatra surasundari | surāsuragaṇe naṣṭe bhramase līlayārṇave

Translation

„Zu welchem Zweck stehst du hier, o himmlische Schöne? Wenn die Scharen der Devas und Asuras zugrunde gegangen sind, warum wanderst du spielerisch auf diesem Ozean umher?“

Word by Word

• tiṣṭhase: you remain/stand
• tiṣṭhase: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √sthā (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद; मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन; तिष्ठसे = you stand/remain

• kena: by what?/for what (cause)
• kena: Karana/Hetu (Instrument/Cause/करण-हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक; तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• kāryeṇa: purpose/task
• kāryeṇa: Hetu (Cause/Purpose/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kārya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; तृतीया, एकवचन; अर्थे: हेतु/प्रयोजन (purpose)

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: एकवचन; प्रथमा; मध्यमपुरुष-सर्वनाम

• atra: here
• atra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण) = locative adverb; अर्थे: अत्र = here

• sura-sundari: O celestial beauty
• sura-sundari: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura (प्रातिपदिक) + sundarī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (सुराणां सुन्दरी) = O beautiful (one) among the gods

• sura-asura-gaṇe: in the assembly of gods and demons
• sura-asura-gaṇe: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura (प्रातिपदिक) + asura (प्रातिपदिक) + gaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी, एकवचन; समासः द्वन्द्वः (सुराश्च असुराश्च) + तत्पुरुषः (गणे) = in the host of gods and demons

• naṣṭe: when (it) is destroyed
• naṣṭe: Adhikarana (Locative absolute/सति-सप्तमी)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √naś (धातु) + kta (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी, एकवचन; सति-सप्तमी (locative absolute) = when it is destroyed/when it has perished

• bhramase: you wander
• bhramase: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhram (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद; मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; भ्रमसे = you wander

• līlayā: playfully/in sport
• līlayā: Karana (Manner/Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: līlā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; अर्थे: manner/instrument = playfully

• arṇave: in the ocean
• arṇave: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arṇava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी, एकवचन

Speaker

Manu

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-samudra threshold (implied)

Type: sangam

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Divine maiden (surā-sundarī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Manu questions the heavenly maiden: why she stands there and roams playfully on the ocean when the hosts of gods and demons are gone—an eerie, post-cataclysmic seascape with a single radiant figure.

Characters & Entities

• Manu
• Devas
• Asuras
• Ocean (arṇava)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even amid cosmic dissolution, the divine order persists through sacred powers that protect and guide.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Indirectly Revā (Narmadā), whose divine identity will be disclosed in the dialogue.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a cosmological inquiry that prepares for the revelation of the tīrtha’s greatness.