Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 51

Devanagari script

इत्युक्ता कौशिकी देवी ततेत्याह पितामहम् । निर्गतायां च कौशिक्यां जाता स्वैराश्रिता गुणैः

Transliteration

ityuktā kauśikī devī tatetyāha pitāmaham | nirgatāyāṃ ca kauśikyāṃ jātā svairāśritā guṇaiḥ

Translation

Ainsi interpellée, la déesse Kauśikī répondit à Pitāmaha (Brahmā) : « Qu’il en soit ainsi. » Et lorsque Kauśikī se fut retirée, une autre forme surgit, libre d’elle-même et établie dans ses propres qualités.

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Quotation marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; वाक्यसमाप्ति/उद्धरणसूचक (quotative particle)

• उक्ता: having been addressed
• उक्ता: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: क्त (Past Passive Participle) ‘उक्त’; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि (having been addressed/spoken to)

• कौशिकी: Kauśikī
• कौशिकी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौशिकी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• देवी: the goddess
• देवी: Karta (Appositive subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; apposition to कौशिकी

• तत्: so/then
• तत्: Sambandha (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभूत/निपातवत् प्रयोग (particle-like ‘so/that’)

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Quotation marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उद्धरणसूचक

• आह: said
• आह: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अह्/ब्रू (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular); परस्मैपदम्

• पितामहम्: to/unto the Grandfather (Brahmā)
• पितामहम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितामह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन (Singular)

• निर्गतायाम्: when (she) had gone out
• निर्गतायाम्: Adhikarana (Locative absolute)
• Type: Verb
• Root: निर् + गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त (Past Passive Participle) ‘निर्गता’ in स्त्रीलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; सप्तमी-absolute (locative absolute)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक

• कौशिक्याम्: in/with Kauśikī (i.e., when Kauśikī had departed)
• कौशिक्याम्: Adhikarana (Locative absolute)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौशिकी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; सप्तमी-absolute सहपद (co-referent in locative absolute)

• जाता: was born/arose
• जाता: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: क्त (Past Passive Participle) ‘जात’; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• स्वैराश्रिता: self-willed, independent
• स्वैराश्रिता: Visheshana (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्वैर + आश्रित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying implicit subject, e.g., another form/being)

• गुणैः: by/with qualities
• गुणैः: Karana (Instrument/means)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन (Plural)

Speaker

Narrator (Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa, per Māheśvarakhaṇḍa convention)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Purāṇic audience (not explicit)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Kauśikī Devī, having said ‘tathā’, departs; in her wake a new form arises—self-established in her own qualities—suggesting a luminous splitting/emanation moment.

Characters & Entities

• Kauśikī Devī
• Brahmā (Pitāmaha)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devī’s freedom (svaira) and her guṇas operate in service of dharma—her forms arise and depart according to cosmic necessity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is mentioned in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it records assent (“tat”) and the narrative transition after Kauśikī’s departure.