Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

रेणुगुण्ठितगात्रस्य यावन्तोऽस्य रजःकणाः । तावद्वर्षसहस्राणि विष्णुलोके महीयते

Transliteration

reṇuguṇṭhitagātrasya yāvanto'sya rajaḥkaṇāḥ | tāvadvarṣasahasrāṇi viṣṇuloke mahīyate

Translation

ಪವಿತ್ರ ಧೂಳಿನಿಂದ ಆವೃತ ದೇಹವಿರುವವನಿಗೆ ಅಂಟಿರುವ ಧೂಳಕಣಗಳು ಎಷ್ಟೋ, ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಸಹಸ್ರ ವರ್ಷಗಳು ಅವನು ವಿಷ್ಣುಲೋಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಹಿಮೆಗೆ ಪಾತ್ರನಾಗುತ್ತಾನೆ।

Word by Word

• reṇu-guṇṭhita-gātrasya: of (one) whose body is dust-covered
• reṇu-guṇṭhita-gātrasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: reṇu (प्रातिपदिक) + guṇṭhita (√guṇṭh/√guṇṭh?; कृदन्त, past participle) + gātra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (रेणुना गुण्ठितं गात्रं यस्य/रेणुगुण्ठितगात्र); नपुंसक-प्रातिपदिक ‘गात्र’; षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; ‘of one whose body is covered with dust’

• yāvantaḥ: as many as
• yāvantaḥ: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yāvat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; परिमाणवाचक (correlative with tāvat)

• asya: of him/of this person
• asya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी (6), एकवचन

• rajaḥ-kaṇāḥ: dust-particles
• rajaḥ-kaṇāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rajas (प्रातिपदिक) + kaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (रजसः कणाः); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• tāvat: so many/that many
• tāvat: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययवत्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; परिमाणवाचक (correlative)

• varṣa-sahasrāṇi: thousands of years
• varṣa-sahasrāṇi: Kala-adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (वर्षाणां सहस्राणि / वर्षसहस्राणि); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; duration

• viṣṇu-loke: in Vishnu’s world
• viṣṇu-loke: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viṣṇu (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सप्तमी-तत्पुरुष (विष्णोः लोके); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन

• mahīyate: is honored/exalted
• mahīyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √mah (मह्)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; कर्मणि/भावे प्रयोग (is honored/glorified)

Speaker

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (Narmadā) rajas (sacred dust)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Pilgrims walking a dusty riverside path; one devotee’s body is lightly coated with sacred dust, hands folded toward a distant Viṣṇu shrine; celestial vision of Viṣṇuloka above.

Characters & Entities

• Viṣṇuloka
• Viṣṇu (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even physical contact with sanctified space—symbolized by sacred dust—becomes a vehicle of enduring religious merit when tied to devotion.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The statement functions as a general phalaśruti within the Huṅkāra/Vāsudeva Tīrtha narrative on the Narmadā (Revā).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly: approach the holy place with reverence such that one bears its sacred dust (reṇu) upon the body—an idiom of pilgrimage and devotion.