Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 30

Devanagari script

देवताज्ञामनुस्मृत्य राजानो येऽपि तां नृप । पालयिष्यन्ति सततं तेषां वासस्त्रिविष्टपे

Transliteration

devatājñāmanusmṛtya rājāno ye'pi tāṃ nṛpa | pālayiṣyanti satataṃ teṣāṃ vāsastriviṣṭape

Translation

ഹേ നൃപാ! ദേവതകളുടെ ആജ്ഞ സ്മരിച്ച് ആ (ഭൂമിദാനം) നിരന്തരം സംരക്ഷിക്കുന്ന രാജാക്കന്മാർക്ക് ത്രിവിഷ്ടപം (സ്വർഗം) ആകും വാസസ്ഥലം.

Word by Word

• devatā-jñām: the divine command
• devatā-jñām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devatā + jñā (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘देवतायाः आज्ञा’ (command of the deity)

• anusmṛtya: having remembered/followed in mind
• anusmṛtya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (Prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: anu + smṛ (स्मृ धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (absolutive/gerund); ‘स्मृत्वा’ अर्थे

• rājānaḥ: kings
• rājānaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• ye: who
• ye: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; सम्बन्धक-प्रयोगः (relative pronoun)

• api: also, even
• api: Samuccaya (Addition)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि (also/even) निपात

• tām: that (land)
• tām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; (भूमिं/वसुंधरां) अनुक्त-प्रत्ययित-कर्म

• nṛpa: O king
• nṛpa: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• pālayiṣyanti: will protect/maintain
• pālayiṣyanti: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pāl (पाल् धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (Simple Future), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन, परस्मैपद

• satatam: always, continually
• satatam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: satata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययम् (क्रियाविशेषणम्: always)

• teṣām: of them
• teṣām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसक, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• vāsaḥ: dwelling, residence
• vāsaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• triviṣṭape: in heaven (Triviṣṭapa)
• triviṣṭape: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: triviṣṭapa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (अधिकरण), एकवचन

Speaker

Vyāsa (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra milieu

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A king stands before a small assembly of devas (or a divine emblem) receiving the ‘command’; below, he protects a grant—guards at boundary stones, brāhmaṇas/temple caretakers safe; above, a celestial city (Triviṣṭapa) awaits.

Characters & Entities

• Devatās
• Triviṣṭapa (Svarga)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Obedience to divine dharma—expressed as protecting righteous grants—leads to heavenly merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named; the emphasis is on dharmic governance within the Revā Khaṇḍa milieu.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Continual protection (pālana) of the sanctioned grant/land as a sustained royal duty.