Previous Verse
Next Verse

Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 6

औषधीनां क्षये घोरे देवदानववर्जिते । निर्वीर्ये निर्वषट्कारे कलिना दूषिते भृशम्

auṣadhīnāṃ kṣaye ghore devadānavavarjite | nirvīrye nirvaṣaṭkāre kalinā dūṣite bhṛśam

In jener schrecklichen Zeit, als die Heilkräuter zugrunde gingen, als Götter und Dānavas fernblieben, als die Kraft erlosch und die vedischen «vaṣaṭ»-Riten verstummten—als alles von Kali schwer verdorben war—

auṣadhīnāmof the herbs/medicinal plants
auṣadhīnām:
Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
TypeNoun
Rootauṣadhī (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन (Plural)
kṣayeat the destruction/decline
kṣaye:
Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
TypeNoun
Rootkṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन
ghoredreadful
ghore:
Adhikarana (Qualifier/अधिकरण)
TypeAdjective
Rootghora (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (कṣaye)
devadānavavarjitedevoid of gods and demons
devadānavavarjite:
Adhikarana (Location qualifier/अधिकरण)
TypeAdjective
Rootdeva (प्रातिपदिक) + dānava (प्रातिपदिक) + varjita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (देवाश्च दानवाश्च तैः वर्जिते = रहिते)
nirvīryein the powerless (state)
nirvīrye:
Adhikarana (Qualifier/अधिकरण)
TypeAdjective
Rootnir- (उपसर्ग) + vīrya (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (implicit ‘loke/kāle’)
nirvaṣaṭkārewhere the vaṣaṭ-call (ritual exclamation) had ceased
nirvaṣaṭkāre:
Adhikarana (Qualifier/अधिकरण)
TypeAdjective
Rootnir- (उपसर्ग) + vaṣaṭkāra (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (implicit ‘kāle/loke’)
kalināby Kali (the age/personified)
kalinā:
Karana (Instrument/करण)
TypeNoun
Rootkali (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन
dūṣitecorrupted, defiled
dūṣite:
Adhikarana (Qualifier/अधिकरण)
TypeAdjective
Rootdūṣ (धातु) → dūṣita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
Formभूतकृदन्त (क्त/PPP); पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; विशेषणम्
bhṛśamexcessively, greatly
bhṛśam:
Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootbhṛśam (अव्यय)
Formक्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय (adverb)

Narrator in Revā-khaṇḍa dialogue context (sage describing the age’s decline)

Scene: A world emptied of divine presence: abandoned yajña-vedis, extinguished sacred fires, silent altars without vaṣaṭ chants; withered medicinal plants; a haze of Kali’s corruption over people and landscape.

K
Kali
D
Deva
D
Dānava
V
Vaṣaṭ (Vedic rite marker)

FAQs

As Kali intensifies, ritual and vitality decline; Purāṇic teaching redirects seekers toward steadfast Dharma and sacred supports.

No specific tīrtha is named here; the verse sets a cosmic-moral context within Revā Khaṇḍa.

It notes the absence of ‘vaṣaṭ’ (Vedic oblation formula), implying the collapse of formal yajña practice rather than prescribing a new rite.