Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

किं नाकं याचयाम्यद्य किमद्य सकलां महीम् । एवं संचिन्तयामास कामबाणेन पीडितः

Transliteration

kiṃ nākaṃ yācayāmyadya kimadya sakalāṃ mahīm | evaṃ saṃcintayāmāsa kāmabāṇena pīḍitaḥ

Translation

«Dois-je demander aujourd’hui le ciel, ou bien aujourd’hui la terre entière ?» Ainsi délibérait-il, tourmenté par les flèches du désir.

Word by Word

• kim: what?
• kim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा (Acc./Nom.), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक (interrogative)

• nākam: heaven
• nākam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• yācayāmi: do I ask
• yācayāmi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yāc (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद

• adya: today / now
• adya: Kala-adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (temporal adverb)

• kim: what?
• kim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा (Acc./Nom.), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• adya: today / now
• adya: Kala-adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (temporal adverb)

• sakalām: entire
• sakalām: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sakala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• mahīm: earth
• mahīm: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• evam: thus
• evam: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (manner adverb)

• saṃcintayāmāsa: reflected / deliberated
• saṃcintayāmāsa: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: saṃ-cint (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद; परिप्रयोग (periphrastic perfect)

• kāma-bāṇena: by Cupid's arrow
• kāma-bāṇena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāma (प्रातिपदिक) + bāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन (Singular); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (kāmasya bāṇaḥ = Cupid's arrow)

• pīḍitaḥ: afflicted
• pīḍitaḥ: Kartṛ-samānādhikaraṇa (Subject complement/समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pīḍita (प्रातिपदिक; from √pīḍ)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic voice)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (Narmadā region)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The Dānava sits in anxious contemplation, eyes darting between imagined heaven and earth; subtle personification of Kāma’s arrows—flower-arrows or a faint Kāma figure—presses upon his heart.

Characters & Entities

• Dānava
• Kāma (desire)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Unrestrained desire clouds discernment; craving for dominion (heaven/earth) becomes the seed of suffering.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Revā (Narmadā) sacred milieu frames the chapter, but this verse highlights inner psychology rather than a particular tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse describes mental deliberation driven by desire.