Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

युधिष्ठिर उवाच । जलमध्ये महादेवः केन तिष्ठति हेतुना । उत्तरं दक्षिणं कूलं वर्जयित्वा द्विजोत्तम

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | jalamadhye mahādevaḥ kena tiṣṭhati hetunā | uttaraṃ dakṣiṇaṃ kūlaṃ varjayitvā dvijottama

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Aus welchem Grund verweilt Mahādeva mitten in den Wassern, o Bester der Zweimalgeborenen? Warum lässt er das nördliche und das südliche Ufer beiseite?“

Word by Word

• युधिष्ठिरः: Yudhiṣṭhira
• युधिष्ठिरः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriya (क्रिया/Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• जलमध्ये: in the middle of the water
• जलमध्ये: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल + मध्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; जलस्य मध्ये इति (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• महादेवः: Mahādeva (Śiva)
• महादेवः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा + देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; महांश्चासौ देवः इति

• केन: by what? / with what?
• केन: Karana/Hetu (करण/Instrument or means)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• तिष्ठति: stands / remains
• तिष्ठति: Kriya (क्रिया/Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• हेतुना: for what reason / by what cause
• हेतुना: Hetu (हेतु/Cause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हेतु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; कारणार्थे

• उत्तरम्: northern
• उत्तरम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उत्तर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण (कूलम् इति)

• दक्षिणम्: southern
• दक्षिणम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दक्षिण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण (कूलम् इति)

• कूलम्: bank/shore
• कूलम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कूल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• वर्जयित्वा: having avoided / leaving aside
• वर्जयित्वा: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकाल-क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वर्ज् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (Absolutive/Gerund), अव्ययभाव; पूर्वकालिक-क्रिया

• द्विजोत्तम: O best of the twice-born (brāhmaṇa)
• द्विजोत्तम: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज + उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन; द्विजानाम् उत्तमः इति (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

Speaker

Yudhiṣṭhira (explicit)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) midstream Mahādeva-sthāna (as introduced)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mārkaṇḍeya

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Yudhiṣṭhira, seated respectfully, questions sage Mārkaṇḍeya on a riverbank; in the background, a midstream rock/islet bears a Śiva-liṅga with water swirling around it, suggesting the deity ‘in the waters’.

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Mahādeva (Śiva)
• dvijottama (brāhmaṇa interlocutor)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred geography invites inquiry: the devotee seeks the hidden reason for Śiva’s special presence at a particular river-location.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A midstream (jala-madhya) Śiva-presence associated with a Revā river context, elaborated in the subsequent verses of Adhyāya 35.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it is a question initiating the next tīrtha-māhātmya explanation.