Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 64

Devanagari script

प्रभिन्नगोपुरद्वारं केशशुष्कास्थिसंकुलम् । प्रदग्धग्रामनगरं भस्मपुंजाभिसंवृतम्

Transliteration

prabhinnagopuradvāraṃ keśaśuṣkāsthisaṃkulam | pradagdhagrāmanagaraṃ bhasmapuṃjābhisaṃvṛtam

Translation

Les portes et les arcs des entrées furent brisés ; le lieu était jonché de cheveux, de restes desséchés et d’ossements. Villages et cités furent consumés par le feu, recouverts d’amas de cendre.

Word by Word

• prabhinna: broken, shattered
• prabhinna: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pra-√bhid (भिद्, विदारणे) + kta (क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण (gopuradvāram)

• gopuradvāram: gateway of the tower/fort-gate
• gopuradvāram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gopura (प्रातिपदिक) + dvāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (gopurasya dvāram)

• keśaśuṣkāsthisaṃkulam: crowded with hair, dried bones
• keśaśuṣkāsthisaṃkulam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: keśa (प्रातिपदिक) + śuṣka (प्रातिपदिक) + asthi (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃkula (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (keśaiḥ śuṣkaiḥ asthibhiḥ saṃkulam) विशेषण

• pradagdha: burnt, scorched
• pradagdha: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pra-√dah (दह्, दाहे) + kta (क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण (grāmanagaram)

• grāmanagaram: villages and towns
• grāmanagaram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: grāma (प्रातिपदिक) + nagara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व (grāmaś ca nagaraṃ ca) समाहारार्थे

• bhasmapuṃjābhisaṃvṛtam: covered with heaps of ash
• bhasmapuṃjābhisaṃvṛtam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhasma (प्रातिपदिक) + puṃja (प्रातिपदिक) + abhi-√vṛ (वृ, आवरणे) + kta (क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; तृतीया-तत्पुरुष (bhasma-puṃjaiḥ abhisaṃvṛtam) क्त-कृदन्त; विशेषण

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya (narration; implied from immediate context)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Smashed gateways and broken arches; streets littered with hair and bones; towns reduced to charred ruins under drifts of ash, the air thick and gray.

Characters & Entities

• Villages (Grāma)
• Cities (Nagara)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Human constructions and social order can collapse; spiritual practice aims at what is not destroyed by time.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is identified; the verse depicts generalized devastation.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse.