Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 91

Devanagari script

जय दुरवबोध संसारतार कलिकलुषमहार्णवघोरतार । जय सुरासुरदेवगणेश नमो हयवानरसिंहगजेन्द्रमुख

Transliteration

jaya duravabodha saṃsāratāra kalikaluṣamahārṇavaghoratāra | jaya surāsuradevagaṇeśa namo hayavānarasiṃhagajendramukha

Translation

Victoire à Toi — difficile à connaître, et pourtant Sauveur qui fait traverser aux êtres le saṃsāra ; redoutable Libérateur à travers l’océan terrifiant des souillures de Kali. Victoire à Toi, Seigneur des troupes de deva et d’asura ; salut à Toi dont les visages se manifestent en cheval, singe, lion et seigneur des éléphants.

Word by Word

• jaya: hail!
• jaya: Sambodhana (Vocative address marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: jaya (अव्यय/निपात)
• Form: Avyaya; sambodhana-arthaka udgāra

• duravabodha: O incomprehensible one
• duravabodha: Sambodhana (Addressee)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dur- (उपसर्ग/प्रत्ययार्थ) + avabodha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (8th/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana; dur-avabodha = hard to comprehend

• saṃsāratāra: O deliverer from worldly existence
• saṃsāratāra: Sambodhana (Addressee)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃsāra (प्रातिपदिक) + tāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (8th/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana; saṃsāra-tāra = deliverer across saṃsāra

• kalikaluṣamahārṇavaghoratāra: O deliverer across the dreadful great ocean of Kali’s defilement
• kalikaluṣamahārṇavaghoratāra: Sambodhana (Addressee)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kali (प्रातिपदिक) + kaluṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + arṇava (प्रातिपदिक) + ghora (प्रातिपदिक) + tāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (8th/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana; 'deliverer across the dreadful great ocean of Kali's impurity'

• jaya: hail!
• jaya: Sambodhana (Vocative address marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: jaya (अव्यय/निपात)
• Form: Avyaya; sambodhana-arthaka udgāra

• surāsuradevagaṇeśa: O lord of the hosts of gods and asuras
• surāsuradevagaṇeśa: Sambodhana (Addressee)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura (प्रातिपदिक) + asura (प्रातिपदिक) + deva (प्रातिपदिक) + gaṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + īśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (8th/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana; lord of the hosts of gods (and) asuras

• namo: salutation
• namo: Sambodhana (Salutation marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक; अव्ययीभाव-प्रयोग)
• Form: Avyaya; namaskāra-vācaka nipāta (salutation particle), often governing dative/genitive implicitly

• hayavānarasiṃhagajendramukha: O one with a face (manifesting) horse, monkey, lion, and elephant-lord (aspects)
• hayavānarasiṃhagajendramukha: Sambodhana (Addressee)
• Type: Noun
• Root: haya (प्रातिपदिक) + vānara (प्रातिपदिक) + siṃha (प्रातिपदिक) + gajendra (प्रातिपदिक) + mukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (8th/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana; 'one whose face is (like) horse, monkey, lion, and lordly elephant' (multi-member epithet)

Speaker

A devotee/narratorial voice within Revā Khaṇḍa (stuti-context; precise speaker not stated in the snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (general)

Type: tirtha

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva as cosmic protector with multiple faces—horse, monkey, lion, elephant—standing above a dark ocean labeled Kali-kaluṣa, extending a hand/boat to devotees on the riverbank.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Gaṇeśa
• Kali (age)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śiva is praised as the transcendent yet saving power who carries devotees across saṃsāra, especially amid Kali-yuga’s moral pollution.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The wider Revā (Narmadā) sacred landscape is the setting; the verse functions as a devotional stuti within the Revā Khaṇḍa’s tīrtha-mahātmya frame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated here; the emphasis is on stuti (praise) and namaskāra (salutation) as devotional practice.