Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 39

Devanagari script

अचिन्त्याव्यक्तरूपाय महादेवाय धामने । विद्महे देवदेवाय तन्नो रुद्र नमोनमः

Transliteration

acintyāvyaktarūpāya mahādevāya dhāmane | vidmahe devadevāya tanno rudra namonamaḥ

Translation

Wir betrachten Mahādeva, dessen Gestalt unvorstellbar und unmanifest ist, die höchste Wohnstatt. Wir erkennen den Gott der Götter; darum, o Rudra, Dir—immer wieder—unsere ehrfürchtigen Verneigungen.

Word by Word

• अचिन्त्याव्यक्तरूपाय: to the one of inconceivable, unmanifest form
• अचिन्त्याव्यक्तरूपाय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अचिन्त्याव्यक्तरूप (प्रातिपदिक; अचिन्त्य + अव्यक्त + रूप)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी, एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (विशेषणसमूहः)

• महादेवाय: to Mahādeva
• महादेवाय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महादेव (प्रातिपदिक; महा + देव)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी, एकवचन; शिव-नाम

• धामने: to the abode/splendour
• धामने: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धामन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन; नकारान्त-प्रातिपदिक (धामन्)

• विद्महे: we know
• विद्महे: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: विद् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद; अर्थः—‘वयं जानिमः/वेद्मः’

• देवदेवाय: to the god of gods
• देवदेवाय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवदेव (प्रातिपदिक; देव + देव)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (देवानां देवः)

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘तत्’ (that)

• नः: of us / for us
• नः: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अस्मद्-प्रयोगः, षष्ठी (Genitive) बहुवचन (enclitic)

• रुद्र: O Rudra
• रुद्र: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/8th), एकवचन

• नमः: salutation
• नमः: Bhava (Exclamation/भाव)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• नमः: salutation (again)
• नमः: Bhava (Exclamation/भाव)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; पुनरुक्ति

Speaker

Unnamed devotee/narrator (within Mārkaṇḍeya’s narration context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra Śiva-mantra-stuti

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Suvrata/anagha interlocutor

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A meditative tableau: a liṅga on a pedestal by the river; above it, an abstract luminous void/halo signifying avyakta; the devotee in seated dhyāna posture; subtle ‘deva-deva’ grandeur without anthropomorphic excess.

Characters & Entities

• Mahādeva
• Rudra
• Devadeva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śiva is beyond thought and form; devotion expresses itself through contemplation and repeated salutations.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse functions as a Śaiva hymn within the Revā Khaṇḍa setting, broadly tied to the sacred geography of the Revā (Narmadā) region rather than naming a single tirtha in this line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, stuti/japa—repeated namaskāra and contemplative remembrance (vidmahe) of Rudra.