Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 100

Devanagari script

सृष्टिस्थित्यंतकारिण्यौ जगतो वेदमातरौ । हव्यकव्यस्वरूपे च चंद्रादित्यविलोचने

Transliteration

sṛṣṭisthityaṃtakāriṇyau jagato vedamātarau | havyakavyasvarūpe ca caṃdrādityavilocane

Translation

Ihr beide waltet über Schöpfung, Erhaltung und Auflösung; ihr seid die Mütter der Veden für die ganze Welt. Ihr seid die eigentliche Gestalt der Opfergaben für Devas und Ahnen, und eure Augen sind Mond und Sonne.

Word by Word

• sṛṣṭi-sthiti-anta-kāriṇyau: O two agents of creation, preservation, and dissolution
• sṛṣṭi-sthiti-anta-kāriṇyau: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sṛṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक) + sthiti (प्रातिपदिक) + anta (प्रातिपदिक) + kāriṇī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/सम्बोधन (1/8), द्विवचन; compound meaning 'the two who effect creation, maintenance, and end' (address)

• jagataḥ: of the world
• jagataḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jagat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; genitive: 'of the world'

• veda-mātarau: O two mothers of the Vedas
• veda-mātarau: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: veda (प्रातिपदिक) + mātṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/सम्बोधन (1/8), द्विवचन; 'two mothers of the Veda(s)' (address)

• havyakavya-svarūpe: O embodiments of havya and kavya offerings
• havyakavya-svarūpe: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: havya (प्रातिपदिक) + kavya (प्रातिपदिक) + svarūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8), द्विवचन; 'O two whose nature is (havya and kavya)'

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक (conjunction)

• candra-āditya-vilocane: O two with moon-and-sun as eyes
• candra-āditya-vilocane: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: candra (प्रातिपदिक) + āditya (प्रातिपदिक) + vilocana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8), द्विवचन; 'O two whose eyes are the moon and the sun'

Speaker

Kaśyapa

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Tīrthadvaya (Gāyatrī–Sarasvatī)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Gāyatrī and Sarasvatī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic-vision tableau: Gāyatrī and Sarasvatī appear as vast principles—sun and moon as their eyes, offerings (havis/kavya) flowing as luminous forms—while Kaśyapa praises them on the riverbank.

Characters & Entities

• Kaśyapa
• Gāyatrī
• Sarasvatī
• Moon (Candra)
• Sun (Āditya)
• Vedas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Vedic worship and ancestral rites are sanctified as expressions of the Goddess; cosmic order is seen as upheld by divine knowledge-power.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The hymn occurs in the Setu-kṣetra twin tīrtha narrative, elevating the site as a locus where Vedic divinities grant grace.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Reference is made to havya and kavya (offerings in yajña and śrāddha), implying their sacred grounding in the goddesses’ presence.