Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 38

Devanagari script

व्यवर्धत महारौद्रा जगत्संहारकारिणी । सृक्किणी लेलिहाना च क्रूरफूत्कारकारिणी

Transliteration

vyavardhata mahāraudrā jagatsaṃhārakāriṇī | sṛkkiṇī lelihānā ca krūraphūtkārakāriṇī

Translation

Cette forme Raudrī, souverainement terrifiante, grandit en puissance, instrument de la dissolution du monde; elle léchait ses lèvres souillées de sang et soufflait des rafales cruelles et effroyables.

Word by Word

• व्यवर्धत: grew, increased
• व्यवर्धत: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि + वर्ध् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; Parasmaipada—‘grew/increased’

• महा-रौद्रा: the very fierce (one)
• महा-रौद्रा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + रौद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; ‘अत्यन्तं रौद्रा’—very fierce

• जगत्-संहार-कारिणी: destroyer of the world
• जगत्-संहार-कारिणी: Viśeṣya-dharma (Appositional epithet/विशेष्यधर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जगत् (प्रातिपदिक) + संहार (प्रातिपदिक) + कारिणी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; ‘जगतः संहारं करोति’—causing destruction of the world

• सृक्किणी: with protruding lips/jaws
• सृक्किणी: Viśeṣya-dharma (Epithet/विशेष्यधर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सृक्किन्/सृक्किणी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; ‘projecting lips/jaws’ (epithet)

• लेलिहाना: licking (repeatedly)
• लेलिहाना: Viśeṣya-dharma (Epithet/विशेष्यधर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लिह् (धातु) → लेलिहान (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ/शानच्-आत्मनेपद), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; ‘licking’

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

• क्रूर-फूत्कार-कारिणी: making cruel hissing sounds
• क्रूर-फूत्कार-कारिणी: Viśeṣya-dharma (Epithet/विशेष्यधर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रूर (प्रातिपदिक) + फूत्कार (प्रातिपदिक) + कारिणी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; ‘क्रूरं फूत्कारं करोति’—making dreadful hissing/snorting sounds

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) (deduced for Āvantya Khaṇḍa purāṇic narration style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Raudrī swells in terrifying magnitude, embodying world-dissolution; she licks blood-smeared lips, eyes blazing, breath blasting like a storm of death.

Characters & Entities

• Raudrī
• Caṇḍī (fierce Devī-form)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It portrays the unstoppable force of Raudra-śakti, reminding devotees that all worlds are subject to dissolution and thus dharma and devotion should not be delayed.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader setting is the Revā Khaṇḍa, associated with the sanctity of the Revā (Narmadā) region, though this verse itself is a mythic description rather than a direct tīrtha-phala statement.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it is descriptive (stuti/varṇana) of a fierce divine manifestation.