Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

यस्य मूर्धन्यहं देव पाणिना समुपस्पृशे । देवदानवगन्धर्वो भस्मसाद्यातु तत्क्षणात्

Transliteration

yasya mūrdhanyahaṃ deva pāṇinā samupaspṛśe | devadānavagandharvo bhasmasādyātu tatkṣaṇāt

Translation

«Ô Dieu, quiconque je touche du plat de ma main sur le sommet de la tête—deva, asura ou gandharva—qu’il soit à l’instant réduit en cendres.»

Word by Word

• yasya: of whom/whose
• yasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (Genitive/6th), एकवचन (Singular), पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Masculine/Neuter) — सर्वनाम-रूप

• mūrdhani: on (the) head
• mūrdhani: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mūrdhan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• deva: O god
• deva: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन (Singular)

• pāṇinā: with (my) hand
• pāṇinā: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāṇi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन (Singular)

• samupaspṛśe: I touch
• samupaspṛśe: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-upa-√spṛś (स्पृश् धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन (Singular), आत्मनेपद (Ātmanepada)

• deva-dānava-gandharvaḥ: the gods, demons, and gandharvas (as a group)
• deva-dānava-gandharvaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक) + dānava (प्रातिपदिक) + gandharva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वन्द्व-समास (Copulative), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular) — समाहार/एकवचन-प्रयोग

• bhasma-sāt: to ashes; into ash
• bhasma-sāt: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: bhasman (प्रातिपदिक) + sāt (अव्यय/निपात-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अव्यय (indeclinable) — क्रियाविशेषणार्थे (adverbial)

• yātu: let (it) go/become
• yātu: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √yā (या धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद (Parasmaipada)

• tat-kṣaṇāt: immediately; at that very moment
• tat-kṣaṇāt: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Time circumstance/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + kṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; पञ्चमी (Ablative/5th), एकवचन (Singular) — अव्ययीभूत-प्रयोग (adverbial ablative: ‘immediately’)

Speaker

Dānava (Daitya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha milieu (Revākhaṇḍa)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A fierce demon petitions Maheśvara for a terrifying boon: whoever is touched on the head by his hand is instantly reduced to ashes; the moment is charged with ominous power.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Deva
• Dānava
• Gandharva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Power without dharma becomes destructive; a boon sought for domination turns into a trap for the seeker.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse does not praise a particular tīrtha; it belongs to the Revā Khaṇḍa narrative stream associated with the sanctity of the Revā (Narmadā) region.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is purely a boon formulation.