Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 29

Devanagari script

महादंष्ट्रो महाकायो रक्तश्मश्रुशिरोरुहः । तं दृष्ट्वा भयसंविग्ना जग्मू रामास्त्रिविष्टपम्

Transliteration

mahādaṃṣṭro mahākāyo raktaśmaśruśiroruhaḥ | taṃ dṛṣṭvā bhayasaṃvignā jagmū rāmāstriviṣṭapam

Translation

Avec d’immenses crocs et un corps colossal, la barbe et les cheveux rouges ; le voyant, les Rāmās, saisies d’effroi, gagnèrent Triviṣṭapa, le ciel.

Word by Word

• महा-दंष्ट्रः: great-fanged
• महा-दंष्ट्रः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + दंष्ट्रा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—कर्मधारय (‘having great fangs’); पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine); प्रथमा (Nominative, 1st); एकवचन (Singular)

• महा-कायः: huge-bodied
• महा-कायः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + काय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—कर्मधारय (‘of huge body’); पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine); प्रथमा; एकवचन

• रक्त-श्मश्रु-शिरोरुहः: with red beard and hair
• रक्त-श्मश्रु-शिरोरुहः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रक्त (प्रातिपदिक) + श्मश्रु (प्रातिपदिक) + शिरोरुह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—तत्पुरुष (determinative: ‘with red beard and hair’); पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन

• तम्: him
• तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd); एकवचन

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• दृष्ट्वा: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु) → दृष्ट (कृदन्त) + त्वा
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (Gerund); धातुः—दृश्; अर्थः—‘having seen’

• भय-संविग्नाः: terrified
• भय-संविग्नाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भय (प्रातिपदिक) + संविग्न (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—तत्पुरुष (‘agitated by fear’); स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन

• जग्मुः: went
• जग्मुः: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु)
• Form: लकारः—लिट् (Perfect); पुरुषः—प्रथम (3rd); वचनम्—बहुवचन (Plural); धातुः—गम्; प्रयोगः—कर्तरि

• रामाः: the women (Rāmās)
• रामाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रामा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन

• त्रि-विष्टपम्: to heaven (Triviṣṭapa)
• त्रि-विष्टपम्: Gati/Karma (Goal/Object of motion/गति)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रि (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + विष्टप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—द्विगु (‘three-heaven/worlds’, i.e., heaven); नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter); द्वितीया; एकवचन

Speaker

Śrī Sūta

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Durdama stands transformed—towering, tusked, red-bearded—while the terrified women recoil and then rise upward toward the luminous realm of Triviṣṭapa, leaving the darkened earth below.

Characters & Entities

• Durdama
• Rāmāḥ
• Triviṣṭapa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Worldly attachments are shaken by sudden change; the Purāṇic narrative highlights the fragile boundary between comfort and terror under karmic law.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is described here; it references Triviṣṭapa (heaven) as a cosmological realm.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.