Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 155

Devanagari script

धेनुके रुद्ररूपासि रुद्रेण परिनिर्मिता । अस्मिन्नगाधे संसारे पतन्तं मां समुद्धर

Transliteration

dhenuke rudrarūpāsi rudreṇa parinirmitā | asminnagādhe saṃsāre patantaṃ māṃ samuddhara

Translation

ಹೇ ಧೇನು! ನೀ ರುದ್ರಸ್ವರೂಪಿಣಿ, ರುದ್ರನಿಂದಲೇ ನಿರ್ಮಿತಳಾಗಿದ್ದೀ. ಈ ಅಗಾಧ ಸಂಸಾರಸಾಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೀಳುತ್ತಿರುವ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಉದ್ಧರಿಸು॥

Word by Word

• धेनुके: O cow
• धेनुके: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धेनु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; संबोधन-प्रयोगः

• रुद्ररूपा: having Rudra as form; Rudra-formed
• रुद्ररूपा: Karta complement (Predicate nominative/विशेष्य-विशेषणभावः)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक) + रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• असि: you are
• असि: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• रुद्रेण: by Rudra
• रुद्रेण: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन

• परिनिर्मिता: created; fashioned
• परिनिर्मिता: Karta complement (Predicate participle/विधेय)
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि-निर्मा (धातु) → निर्मित (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे ‘निर्मिता’ = ‘made/created’

• अस्मिन्: in this
• अस्मिन्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• अगाधे: bottomless; unfathomable
• अगाधे: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अगाध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; ‘संसारे’ इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषणम्

• संसारे: in worldly existence
• संसारे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संसार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• पतन्तम्: falling
• पतन्तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (धातु) → पतत् (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; ‘माम्’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• माम्: me
• माम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (व्यवहारतः), द्वितीया, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• समुद्धर: lift up; rescue
• समुद्धर: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-उद्-हृ (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

King (as donor, praying during go-dāna)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha milieu (implicit)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: nareśvara (king) addressed in narration (as per translation vocative)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A supplicant addresses an adorned cow as Rudra’s embodiment, hands folded, with the riverine sacred landscape implied; the saṃsāra-ocean metaphor can be visualized as waves behind, with Śiva’s grace symbolically present.

Characters & Entities

• Dhenu (cow)
• Rudra
• Saṃsāra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Charity offered with sacred vision—seeing the cow as Rudra’s form—becomes a prayer for liberation from saṃsāra.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Revā Khaṇḍa setting frames the act of go-dāna as especially meritorious within the Narmadā sacred landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Reciting a dedicatory prayer to the cow during go-dāna, invoking Rudra and seeking deliverance.