Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 53

Devanagari script

पाराशरं भागवतं कौर्मं चाष्टादशं क्रमात् । एतान्युपपुराणानि मयोक्तानि यथाक्रमम्

Transliteration

pārāśaraṃ bhāgavataṃ kaurmaṃ cāṣṭādaśaṃ kramāt | etānyupapurāṇāni mayoktāni yathākramam

Translation

അടുത്തതായി പാരാശരം, ഭാഗവതം, കൗർമം—ഇങ്ങനെ ക്രമമായി പതിനെട്ട്. ഈ ഉപപുരാണങ്ങളെ ഞാൻ യഥാക്രമം പ്രസ്താവിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• pārāśaram: (the) Pārāśara
• pārāśaram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pārāśara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; नाम (title-name)

• bhāgavatam: (the) Bhāgavata
• bhāgavatam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāgavata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; नाम (title-name)

• kaurmam: (the) Kaurma
• kaurmam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kaurma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; नाम (title-name)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक निपात (conjunction)

• aṣṭādaśam: eighteen (in number)
• aṣṭādaśam: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭādaśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; संख्यावाचक (18th/‘eighteen’ as count) द्विगु-प्रकृति

• kramāt: in order/according to sequence
• kramāt: Hetu/Apādāna (Ablative basis/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: krama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5), एकवचन; हेतौ/क्रमे (ablative: ‘in due order/according to sequence’)

• etāni: these
• etāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• upapurāṇāni: Upapurāṇas (subsidiary Purāṇas)
• upapurāṇāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: upa (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + purāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; उप-तत्पुरुष (‘उपपुराण’ = subsidiary purāṇas)

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3), एकवचन

• uktāni: said/mentioned
• uktāni: Visheshana (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ukta (कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त √vac (वच्) ‘to say’

• yathā-kramam: in proper sequence
• yathā-kramam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय) + krama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; क्रियाविशेषण (adverbial): ‘as per order’

Speaker

Sūta (deduced from Purāṇic cataloguing voice continuing from Adhyāya 1)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Sages/assembly

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage points to a numbered list (1–18) on a manuscript board; disciples mark the sequence with counting beads, emphasizing ‘yathākramam’.

Characters & Entities

• Pārāśara (Upapurāṇa)
• Bhāgavata (Upapurāṇa)
• Kaurma (Upapurāṇa)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma is safeguarded through orderly transmission—naming and sequencing texts signals a disciplined sacred tradition.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not specified in this verse; it functions as a preface before the Revā/Narmadā tīrtha-mahātmya narrative expands.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the focus is on listing and affirming the corpus of Upapurāṇas.