Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

राघवाय नमस्तुभ्यं बलभद्राय ते नमः । कृष्णाय कल्कये तुभ्यं नमो विज्ञानरूपिणे

Transliteration

rāghavāya namastubhyaṃ balabhadrāya te namaḥ | kṛṣṇāya kalkaye tubhyaṃ namo vijñānarūpiṇe

Translation

Ehrerbietung Dir als Rāghava; Ehrerbietung Dir als Balabhadra. Ehrerbietung Dir als Kṛṣṇa und Dir als Kalki — Verneigung vor Dir, dessen Gestalt reines geistiges Wissen ist.

Word by Word

• राघवाय: to Rāghava (Rāma)
• राघवाय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राघव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन

• नमः: salutation
• नमः: Prayojaka/Exclamation (उद्गार)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावे प्रयोगः (interjectional use)

• तुभ्यम्: to you
• तुभ्यम्: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• बलभद्राय: to Balabhadra
• बलभद्राय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बलभद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन

• ते: to you
• ते: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (enclitic)

• नमः: salutation
• नमः: Prayojaka/Exclamation (उद्गार)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावे प्रयोगः

• कृष्णाय: to Kṛṣṇa
• कृष्णाय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन

• कल्कये: to Kalki
• कल्कये: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कल्कि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन; रूपम्: कल्कये (i-stem dative)

• तुभ्यम्: to you
• तुभ्यम्: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• नमः: salutation
• नमः: Prayojaka/Exclamation (उद्गार)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावे प्रयोगः

• विज्ञानरूपिणे: to the one whose form is knowledge
• विज्ञानरूपिणे: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विज्ञान-रूपिन् (प्रातिपदिक; विज्ञान + रूपिन्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन; समासः: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (विज्ञानस्य रूपम् यस्य)

Speaker

Mudgala (addressing Hari/Viṣṇu)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Setubandha/Setu-kṣetra (Rāmeśvara vicinity)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: dvijottamāḥ (addressed audience within narration)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage offers folded-hands salutations, mentally invoking successive avatāras—Rāma with bow, Balabhadra with plough, Kṛṣṇa with flute/discus, Kalki on a white horse—culminating in a radiant, formless jñāna-aura behind them.

Characters & Entities

• Rāghava (Rāma)
• Balabhadra (Balarāma)
• Kṛṣṇa
• Kalki
• Hari/Viṣṇu

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Seeing the one Lord as manifest in many avatāras and as the very essence of liberating knowledge (vijñāna).

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Setu (Setubandha/Rāmeśvaram sacred region), within the Setukhaṇḍa’s pilgrimage-glorification context.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A stotra-style namaskāra (devotional salutation) to Viṣṇu through his avatāra names.