Skanda Purana — Vishnu Khanda, Shloka 71

Devanagari script

एवं स्वर्णखनेर्जातं माहात्म्यं च मुनीश्वरात्

Transliteration

evaṃ svarṇakhanerjātaṃ māhātmyaṃ ca munīśvarāt

Translation

Ainsi naquit le récit de la gloire liée à la « mine d’or », tel qu’il fut reçu du seigneur des sages.

Word by Word

• evam: thus
• evam: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (adverb of manner)

• svarṇa-khaneḥ: of the gold-mine
• svarṇa-khaneḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + khani (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन — genitive singular; तत्पुरुषः: ‘gold-mine’ (svarṇasya khaniḥ)

• jātam: arisen/produced
• jātam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jan (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-कृदन्त, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — agreeing with māhātmyam; ‘arisen/produced’

• māhātmyam: the greatness (account)
• māhātmyam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māhātmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — nominative singular

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक (conjunction ‘and’)

• muni-īśvarāt: from the lord of sages
• muni-īśvarāt: Apadana (अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni (प्रातिपदिक) + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन — ablative singular; तत्पुरुषः: ‘lord of sages’; अपादान (source)

Speaker

Agastya (narrative voice; verse is a concluding marker)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Svarṇa-khani (Gold Mine)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Vyāsa and assembled sages (frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage-teacher narrates the ‘Svarṇa-khani’ māhātmya to attentive listeners; the ‘gold mine’ is symbolized as a radiant earth-cleft or sacred pit emitting golden light, indicating hidden merit within the land.

Characters & Entities

• Muni (sage)
• Svaraṇakhani (gold mine)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Māhātmya is preserved through authoritative sage-to-sage transmission, giving sacred legitimacy to place-legends and their fruits.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Within Ayodhyā Māhātmya, this verse references a ‘svarṇa-khani’ episode; the exact site-name is not specified in the verse itself.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it functions as a narrative closure attributing the māhātmya to a great sage.