Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 10

Devanagari script

रजस्तत्रोत्थितं भौमं गजवाजिपदाहतम् । तेनैतच्छादितं सर्वं सदिङ्मार्तण्डमंलम्

Transliteration

rajastatrotthitaṃ bhaumaṃ gajavājipadāhatam | tenaitacchāditaṃ sarvaṃ sadiṅmārtaṇḍamaṃlam

Translation

Là, la poussière de la terre s’éleva, soulevée par les pas des éléphants et des chevaux. Par elle, tout fut voilé : les directions mêmes et jusqu’au disque du soleil.

Word by Word

• rajaḥ: dust
• rajaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rajas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of place: 'there')

• utthitam: risen, उठित
• utthitam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ud- + √sthā (स्था) (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; 'rajaḥ' विशेषण

• bhaumam: earthy, from the ground
• bhaumam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhauma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; 'rajaḥ' विशेषण

• gaja-vāji-pada-āhatam: struck by the feet of elephants and horses
• gaja-vāji-pada-āhatam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gaja (प्रातिपदिक) + vāji (प्रातिपदिक) + pada (प्रातिपदिक) + āhata (√han/हन्, क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त विशेषण; 'rajaḥ' विशेषण

• tena: by that (dust)
• tena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• etat: this
• etat: Karma/Scope (Object-scope/व्याप्ति)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सर्वनाम (here with 'sarvam' as apposition)

• chāditam: covered
• chāditam: Kriya (Predicate participle/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √chad (छद्) (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त/Past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• sarvam: everything, all
• sarvam: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• sa-diṅ-mārtaṇḍa-maṇḍalam: (even) the sun’s disk along with the quarters (of space)
• sa-diṅ-mārtaṇḍa-maṇḍalam: Karma/Scope (Extent/व्याप्ति)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sa (अव्यय/उपसर्गसदृश: 'with') + diś (प्रातिपदिक) + mārtaṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक) + maṇḍala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समाहारार्थ-समास (with the sun’s orb along with the directions)

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narrator, unspecified in snippet)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A vast host of elephants and horses churns the earth; a towering cloud of dust rises, veiling the horizon, swallowing the directions and dimming the sun’s disc overhead.

Characters & Entities

• Mārtaṇḍa (Sun)
• Gaja
• Vāji

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Grandeur can obscure clarity—Purāṇic imagery warns that power and speed may cloud perception.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None named; it is a descriptive passage preceding later sacred-geography revelations in the Revā Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.