Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 101

Devanagari script

अष्टाविंशतिकोट्यो वै नरकाणां युधिष्ठिर । विमुक्ता नरकैर्दुःखैः शिवलोकं व्रजन्ति ते

Transliteration

aṣṭāviṃśatikoṭyo vai narakāṇāṃ yudhiṣṭhira | vimuktā narakairduḥkhaiḥ śivalokaṃ vrajanti te

Translation

Ô Yudhiṣṭhira, il existe en vérité vingt-huit crores d’enfers. Délivrés des souffrances de ces enfers, ils gagnent le monde de Śiva.

Word by Word

• अष्टाविंशतिकोट्यः: twenty-eight crores
• अष्टाविंशतिकोट्यः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्टाविंशति + कोटि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्विगु-समास (अष्टाविंशतिः कोटयः), स्त्रीलिङ्ग (कोटि), प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (निपातार्थ)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• नरकाणाम्: of hells / of those in hell
• नरकाणाम्: Sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन

• युधिष्ठिर: O Yudhiṣṭhira
• युधिष्ठिर: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• विमुक्ताः: freed
• विमुक्ताः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि + मुच् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; अर्थः—released

• नरकैः: from hells
• नरकैः: Apadana/Hetu (अपादान/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन

• दुःखैः: from sufferings
• दुःखैः: Apadana/Hetu (अपादान/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन

• शिवलोकम्: Śiva’s world
• शिवलोकम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिवलोक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (शिवस्य लोकः), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• व्रजन्ति: go
• व्रजन्ति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्रज् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन

• ते: they
• ते: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन (सर्वनाम)

Speaker

Unspecified; addressed to Yudhiṣṭhira (listener named in-verse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-khaṇḍa Mokṣa-tīrtha sequence (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Cosmic tableau: layers of hells below, souls being lifted upward by Śiva’s grace toward a luminous Śiva-loka; Yudhiṣṭhira listening to the sage’s assurance.

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Naraka (hells)
• Śivaloka
• Śiva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The purāṇa magnifies Śiva-bhakti and tīrtha-dharma as a force that rescues beings from extreme suffering and leads to Śiva’s realm.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Revā/Narmadā tīrtha tradition of the Revā Khaṇḍa, whose practices are said to grant passage to Śivaloka.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, the earlier caturdaśī observance and associated rites culminating in Śiva worship that grants liberation from naraka.