Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 38

Devanagari script

यद्येवं न भवेत्तात लोकस्य तु नरेश्वर । अमर्यादं भवेन्नूनं विनश्यति चराचरम्

Transliteration

yadyevaṃ na bhavettāta lokasya tu nareśvara | amaryādaṃ bhavennūnaṃ vinaśyati carācaram

Translation

ഇങ്ങനെ അല്ലായിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ, താതാ! നരേശ്വരാ! നിശ്ചയമായും ലോകം അമര്യാദിതമാകുമായിരുന്നു; ചരാചരമൊക്കെയും നശിച്ചുപോകുമായിരുന്നു।

Word by Word

• यदि: if
• यदि: Sambandha (Condition/सम्बन्ध-हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्धबोधक-अव्यय (conditional particle)

• एवम्: thus, in this way
• एवम्: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: रीत्यर्थक-अव्यय (adverb of manner)

• न: not
• न: Pratishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• भवेत्: would be, might happen
• भवेत्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपद

• तात: dear one, son
• तात: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• लोकस्य: of the world
• लोकस्य: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/genitive), एकवचन

• तु: but, indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (contrast/emphasis particle)

• नरेश्वर: O lord of men (king)
• नरेश्वर: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (नराणाम् ईश्वरः)

• अमर्यादम्: lawlessness, absence of bounds
• अमर्यादम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a- + maryādā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/accusative), एकवचन; नञ्-प्रत्यययुक्त (negated)

• भवेत्: would arise
• भवेत्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ्, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• नूनम्: certainly
• नूनम्: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nūnam (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चयार्थक-अव्यय (adverb of certainty)

• विनश्यति: perishes, is destroyed
• विनश्यति: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नश् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; उपसर्ग: वि-

• चराचरम्: the moving and the unmoving (all beings)
• चराचरम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cara + acara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व (चरं च अचरं च)

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha (contextual)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: King (narendra/nareśvara)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic court-scene: a sage addressing a king, with a symbolic backdrop of the ordered cosmos—rivers flowing within banks, animals and trees thriving under a protective dharmic boundary line.

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• nareśvara (king)
• cara-acara (moving and unmoving beings)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma’s boundaries (maryādā) are necessary for the stability of society and the cosmos.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific holy site is named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse argues for the necessity of moral restraint.