Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

रेणुगुण्ठितगात्रस्य यावन्तोऽस्य रजःकणाः । तावद्वर्षसहस्राणि विष्णुलोके महीयते

Transliteration

reṇuguṇṭhitagātrasya yāvanto'sya rajaḥkaṇāḥ | tāvadvarṣasahasrāṇi viṣṇuloke mahīyate

Translation

Autant de grains de poussière s’attachent au corps couvert de poussière sacrée, autant de milliers d’années il est honoré et magnifié dans le monde de Viṣṇu.

Word by Word

• reṇu-guṇṭhita-gātrasya: of (one) whose body is dust-covered
• reṇu-guṇṭhita-gātrasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: reṇu (प्रातिपदिक) + guṇṭhita (√guṇṭh/√guṇṭh?; कृदन्त, past participle) + gātra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (रेणुना गुण्ठितं गात्रं यस्य/रेणुगुण्ठितगात्र); नपुंसक-प्रातिपदिक ‘गात्र’; षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; ‘of one whose body is covered with dust’

• yāvantaḥ: as many as
• yāvantaḥ: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yāvat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; परिमाणवाचक (correlative with tāvat)

• asya: of him/of this person
• asya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी (6), एकवचन

• rajaḥ-kaṇāḥ: dust-particles
• rajaḥ-kaṇāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rajas (प्रातिपदिक) + kaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (रजसः कणाः); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• tāvat: so many/that many
• tāvat: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययवत्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; परिमाणवाचक (correlative)

• varṣa-sahasrāṇi: thousands of years
• varṣa-sahasrāṇi: Kala-adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (वर्षाणां सहस्राणि / वर्षसहस्राणि); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; duration

• viṣṇu-loke: in Vishnu’s world
• viṣṇu-loke: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viṣṇu (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सप्तमी-तत्पुरुष (विष्णोः लोके); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन

• mahīyate: is honored/exalted
• mahīyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √mah (मह्)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; कर्मणि/भावे प्रयोग (is honored/glorified)

Speaker

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (Narmadā) rajas (sacred dust)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Pilgrims walking a dusty riverside path; one devotee’s body is lightly coated with sacred dust, hands folded toward a distant Viṣṇu shrine; celestial vision of Viṣṇuloka above.

Characters & Entities

• Viṣṇuloka
• Viṣṇu (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even physical contact with sanctified space—symbolized by sacred dust—becomes a vehicle of enduring religious merit when tied to devotion.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The statement functions as a general phalaśruti within the Huṅkāra/Vāsudeva Tīrtha narrative on the Narmadā (Revā).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly: approach the holy place with reverence such that one bears its sacred dust (reṇu) upon the body—an idiom of pilgrimage and devotion.