Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 74

Devanagari script

अग्निप्रवेशं यः कुर्यात्तत्र तीर्थे नरोत्तम । अग्निलोके वसेत्तावद्यावदाभूतसम्प्लवम्

Transliteration

agnipraveśaṃ yaḥ kuryāttatra tīrthe narottama | agniloke vasettāvadyāvadābhūtasamplavam

Translation

Ô le meilleur des hommes, quiconque entre dans le feu en ce tīrtha sacré demeurera dans le monde d’Agni jusqu’à la dissolution cosmique des êtres.

Word by Word

• agni-praveśam: entry into fire
• agni-praveśam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: agni (प्रातिपदिक) + praveśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (अग्नेः प्रवेशः)

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सम्बन्धक-सर्वनाम

• kuryāt: should do
• kuryāt: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (there)

• tīrthe: at the sacred ford/place
• tīrthe: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• nara-uttama: O best of men
• nara-uttama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक) + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (उत्तमः नरः)

• agni-loke: in Agni’s world
• agni-loke: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: agni (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (अग्नेः लोकः)

• vaset: would dwell
• vaset: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vas (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• tāvat: so long
• tāvat: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: परिमाणवाचक-अव्यय (so long/that long)

• yāvat: until, as long as
• yāvat: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: यावत्-शब्दः, अव्यय (correlative: “as long as/until”)

• ā-bhūta-samplavam: up to the cosmic dissolution
• ā-bhūta-samplavam: Kāla-avadhi (Limit of time/कालावधि)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ā (उपसर्ग) + bhūta (प्रातिपदिक) + samplava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; अव्ययीभाव-प्राय/उपपद-तत्पुरुषार्थः: “आ” = पर्यन्त (up to) + भूतसम्प्लव (प्रलय)

Speaker

Śaṅkara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (unnamed sub-site)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: naroत्तम / best of men (king addressed)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At a riverbank tīrtha, a ritual fire blazes beside a Śiva shrine; a resolute pilgrim performs final self-offering into flames; above, Agni-deva’s radiant realm appears—golden-red, with tongues of flame forming a celestial palace.

Characters & Entities

• Agni
• Agni-loka
• Tīrtha
• Pralaya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The text frames the tīrtha as a gateway to exalted cosmic realms, linking place-based acts to specific lokas.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The same Revā Khaṇḍa tīrtha being praised in this sequence (Daśāśvamedha-context).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Agni-praveśa (entering fire) at the tīrtha, with the stated fruit of residence in Agni-loka.