Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 53

Devanagari script

मेधवर्णा परा नारी चलत्कनकमेखला । श्वेतवस्त्रोत्तरीया तु पपात धरणीतले

Transliteration

medhavarṇā parā nārī calatkanakamekhalā | śvetavastrottarīyā tu papāta dharaṇītale

Translation

気高き女は白き肌をもち、揺れる黄金の帯を締め、白衣と上衣をまとっていたが、大地に崩れ落ちた。

Word by Word

• medhā-varṇā: smoke/ash-colored
• medhā-varṇā: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: medhā (प्रातिपदिक) + varṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—‘मेधायाः (यज्ञधूम/धूसर) वर्णः यस्याः सा’

• parā: another
• parā: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• nārī: woman
• nārī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nārī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• calat-kanaka-mekhalā: with a swaying golden girdle
• calat-kanaka-mekhalā: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: calat (कृदन्त, √cal/चल्) + kanaka (प्रातिपदिक) + mekhalā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः—‘चलत् कनकमेखला’ (with a moving/shaking golden girdle)

• śveta-vastra-uttarīyā: wearing a white upper garment
• śveta-vastra-uttarīyā: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śveta (प्रातिपदिक) + vastra (प्रातिपदिक) + uttarīya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—‘श्वेतं वस्त्रम् उत्तरीयं यस्याः सा’

• tu: then/indeed
• tu: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: विशेष/विरोधबोधक अव्यय (particle)

• papāta: fell
• papāta: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √pat (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• dharaṇī-tale: on the ground
• dharaṇī-tale: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharaṇī (प्रातिपदिक) + tala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—‘धरण्याः तलम्’

Speaker

Narrator (contextual purāṇic narration within Revā Khaṇḍa; exact speaker not stated in the snippet)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A fair woman in white garments with a swaying golden girdle stumbles and collapses onto the earth as smoke and embers drift around.

Characters & Entities

• dharaṇī (earth)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Outer splendor cannot shield one from fate; the scene urges inner refuge in dharma and remembrance of the sacred.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Revā Khaṇḍa broadly praises the sacred geography of the Revā/Narmadā region; this verse itself is descriptive rather than tīrtha-specific.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse.