Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 36

Devanagari script

अविनाभाविनी शक्तिराद्यैका शिवरूपिणी । लीलया जगदुत्पत्तिरक्षासंहृतिकारिणी

Transliteration

avinābhāvinī śaktirādyaikā śivarūpiṇī | līlayā jagadutpattirakṣāsaṃhṛtikāriṇī

Translation

Cette Puissance inséparable—primordiale, une, et de la nature même de Śiva—par son jeu divin accomplit la création, la protection et la dissolution du monde.

Word by Word

• अविनाभाविनी: inseparable (ever-associated)
• अविनाभाविनी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अविनाभाविन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifier)

• शक्तिः: Power; Śakti
• शक्तिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शक्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• आद्या: primordial, first
• आद्या: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आद्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• एका: one, single
• एका: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• शिवरूपिणी: having the form of Śiva
• शिवरूपिणी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शिव + रूपिणी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (genitive determinative): 'शिवस्य रूपं यस्याः' इति; विशेषण

• लीलया: by play, sportively
• लीलया: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लीला (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• जगत्: world, universe
• जगत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (समासपूर्वपद)

• उत्पत्तिः: arising, creation
• उत्पत्तिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उत्पत्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (समासोत्तरपद)

• रक्षा: protection
• रक्षा: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रक्षा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (समासपूर्वपद)

• संहृति: withdrawal, dissolution
• संहृति: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संहृति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (समासमध्यपद)

• कारिणी: one who performs/causes
• कारिणी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृ (धातु) + णिनि-प्रत्यय (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक: कारिणी)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कृदन्त (agent noun) 'करोति' इति

Speaker

The sages (continuing the hymn to Śiva/Śakti)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Aruṇācala

Type: peak

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic tableau: Śiva as luminous Arunachala-tejas with Śakti as inseparable radiance, while the universe emerges, is sustained, and dissolves like waves within their shared aura.

Characters & Entities

• Śakti
• Śiva
• Creation (Utpatti)
• Protection (Rakṣā)
• Dissolution (Saṃhṛti)
• Aruṇācala

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śakti is not separate from Śiva; the cosmos cycles through creation, preservation, and dissolution as a sacred līlā.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Aruṇācala’s Mahātmya celebrates Śiva as the ground of the cosmos; this verse articulates the Śiva-Śakti principle central to that sacred geography.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse functions as theological praise usable in devotional recitation.