Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 13

Devanagari script

ततः सा परमं कृत्वा वैराग्यं नृपसत्तम । आगत्य नर्मदातीरे चचार विपुलं तपः

Transliteration

tataḥ sā paramaṃ kṛtvā vairāgyaṃ nṛpasattama | āgatya narmadātīre cacāra vipulaṃ tapaḥ

Translation

അപ്പോൾ അവൾ പരമവൈരാഗ്യം സ്വീകരിച്ച്, ഹേ നൃപശ്രേഷ്ഠാ, നർമദാതീരത്ത് എത്തി മഹത്തായ തപസ്സു അനുഷ്ഠിച്ചു।

Word by Word

• ततः: thereafter
• ततः: Adhikarana (Context/देश-काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) = indeclinable adverb; अर्थे: तस्मात्/अनन्तरम् (thereafter)

• सा: she
• सा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (pronoun)

• परमम्: the highest (state)
• परमम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; कर्मरूपेण (object)

• कृत्वा: having made/done
• कृत्वा: Kriya (Non-finite verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund); अव्ययभावः; पूर्वक्रिया (having done)

• वैराग्यम्: dispassion, renunciation
• वैराग्यम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vairāgya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• नृपसत्तम: O best of kings
• नृपसत्तम: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛpa + sattama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (नृपाणां सत्तमः)

• आगत्य: having come
• आगत्य: Kriya (Non-finite verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā + gam (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund); अव्ययभावः; पूर्वक्रिया (having come)

• नर्मदातीरे: on the bank of the Narmadā
• नर्मदातीरे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: narmadā + tīra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (नर्मदायाः तीरम्)

• चचार: she practiced/performed
• चचार: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: car (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• विपुलम्: abundant, great
• विपुलम्: Visheshana (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vipula (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying tapaḥ)

• तपः: austerity, penance
• तपः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tapas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (addressing Nṛpasattama; introducing Narmadā-tīra tapas)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Narmadā (Revā)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: nṛpa (king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A noble woman, serene and resolute, arrives at the Narmadā’s bank; the river flows broad and luminous as she begins intense austerities beneath sparse trees and rocky ghāṭs.

Characters & Entities

• Rohiṇī
• Narmadā (Revā)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

When worldly distress arises, turning to vairāgya and tapas at a sacred river becomes a dharmic path of purification.

Which specific holy site (Tīrtha) is glorified here?

The Narmadā (Revā) riverbank is foregrounded as a sanctifying place for austerities.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Tapas is prescribed in principle—undertaken through disciplined practices, further detailed in the following verse.