Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 6

Devanagari script

तीर्थानां परमं तीर्थं स्वयं रुद्रेण भाषितम्

Transliteration

tīrthānāṃ paramaṃ tīrthaṃ svayaṃ rudreṇa bhāṣitam

Translation

Entre todos los tīrthas, éste es el tīrtha supremo, proclamado por el propio Rudra.

Word by Word

• tīrthānām: of (all) sacred places
• tīrthānām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (तीर्थ प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन (genitive plural)

• paramam: supreme
• paramam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (परम प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying tīrtham)

• tīrtham: sacred place
• tīrtham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (तीर्थ प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• svayam: personally, by himself
• svayam: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svayam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• rudreṇa: by Rudra (Śiva)
• rudreṇa: Karana (Agent in passive/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rudra (रुद्र प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन (instrumental)

• bhāṣitam: spoken, declared
• bhāṣitam: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhāṣ (भाष् धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त, क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya (quoting/attributing authority to Rudra)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Paramatīrtha (identified in immediate narrative flow with Śaṅkhacūḍa-tīrtha)

Type: tirtha

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Arjuna (contextual)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Rudra/Śiva, as cosmic teacher, proclaims a tīrtha’s supremacy; sages and pilgrims listen with folded hands; the tīrtha shines as a radiant locus on the riverbank.

Characters & Entities

• Rudra (Śiva)
• Gautameśvara

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic authority culminates in divine testimony: a tīrtha’s greatness is sealed by Rudra’s own proclamation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse functions as a superlative endorsement of the Gautameśvara tīrtha within this adhyāya’s context.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a statement of supreme status and divine attestation.