Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 24

Devanagari script

विपरीतं तयोर्बीजं रुद्राक्षे वर चारिणि । चतुर्दशे चतुर्थ्यर्थं पृथ्वीबीजेन संयुतम्

Transliteration

viparītaṃ tayorbījaṃ rudrākṣe vara cāriṇi | caturdaśe caturthyarthaṃ pṛthvībījena saṃyutam

Translation

Leur semence (syllabe) doit être prise en ordre inverse, ô noble ascète portant le rudrākṣa. Dans le quatorzième (membre), pour l’accomplissement du quatrième (acte), elle est jointe à la Semence de la Terre.

Word by Word

• विपरीतम्: reversed/opposite
• विपरीतम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विपरीत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (Neuter, Nom./Acc., Singular)

• तयोः: of the two
• तयोः: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी विभक्ति, द्विवचन (Genitive dual: 'of those two')

• बीजम्: seed (mantric seed)
• बीजम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बीज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (Neuter, Nom./Acc., Singular)

• रुद्राक्षे: in/with rudrākṣa (bead)
• रुद्राक्षे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्राक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचन (Locative singular: 'in/with rudrākṣa')

• वर: O excellent one
• वर: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन विभक्ति, एकवचन (Masculine, Vocative, Singular)

• चारिणि: O wanderer/observant lady
• चारिणि: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चारिणी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन विभक्ति, एकवचन (Feminine, Vocative, Singular)

• चतुर्दशे: in the fourteenth
• चतुर्दशे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्दश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्विगुसमास (चतुर्दश), सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचन (Locative singular: 'in the fourteenth')

• चतुर्थ्यर्थम्: for the purpose of the fourth (dative)
• चतुर्थ्यर्थम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतुर्थी + अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: चतुर्थ्याः अर्थम्), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (Neuter, Nom./Acc., Singular)

• पृथ्वीबीजेन: with the earth-seed
• पृथ्वीबीजेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथ्वी + बीज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: पृथिव्याः बीजम्), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन (Neuter, Instrumental, Singular)

• संयुतम्: joined/combined
• संयुतम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम् + युज् (धातु) → संयुत (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (Past passive participle, Neuter, Nom./Acc., Singular)

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic dialogue context within Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa; exact speaker not explicit in this snippet)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A rudrākṣa-wearing ascetic (addressed as ‘varacāriṇi’)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An ascetic with rudrākṣa beads performs nyāsa; two bīja syllables appear mirrored/reversed in the air, then settle into a stable earth-lotus glyph at the fourteenth point of a mandala.

Characters & Entities

• Rudrākṣa (as epithet)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Mantra practice is portrayed as precise and rule-governed; even reversal and elemental bījas are framed as part of a dhārmic method.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dharmāraṇya is the contextual sacred landscape, though the verse itself is technical rather than geographic.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Reversing a bīja sequence and combining a specified step with the earth-seed (pṛthvī-bīja).