Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

मासि मासि निराहारो द्वादश्यां कुरुनन्दन । केशवं पूजयेन्नित्यं मासि मार्गशिरे बुधः

Transliteration

māsi māsi nirāhāro dvādaśyāṃ kurunandana | keśavaṃ pūjayennityaṃ māsi mārgaśire budhaḥ

Translation

ഹേ കുരുനന്ദന! മാസംതോറും ദ്വാദശിയിൽ നിരാഹാരനായി, മാർഗശീർഷ മാസത്തിൽ ജ്ഞാനി നിത്യം കേശവനെ പൂജിക്കണം.

Word by Word

• मासि: in (each) month
• मासि: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरण (locative of time)

• मासि: month by month
• मासि: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; पुनरुक्ति (repetition)

• निराहारः: fasting / without food
• निराहारः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निराहार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषण (predicate adjective)

• द्वादश्याम्: on the Dvādaśī (12th lunar day)
• द्वादश्याम्: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्वादशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; कालाधिकरण (time-locative)

• कुरुनन्दन: O delight of the Kurus
• कुरुनन्दन: Sambodhana (Vocative/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरुनन्दन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; संबोधन

• केशवम्: Keśava (Viṣṇu)
• केशवम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: केशव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म (object)

• पूजयेत्: should worship
• पूजयेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पूज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

• नित्यम्: always
• नित्यम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• मासि: in the month
• मासि: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरण (time)

• मार्गशीर्षे: in Mārgaśīrṣa
• मार्गशीर्षे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मार्गशीर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरण (time)

• बुधः: a wise person
• बुधः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बुध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्ता

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrthas (contextual frame)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Kuru-nandana (a Bharata/Kuru prince figure)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A disciplined devotee on Dvādaśī, seated near a riverbank shrine, offering tulasī and lamp to Keśava; a calendar wheel of months subtly behind, indicating cyclical worship.

Characters & Entities

• Keśava
• Dvādaśī
• Mārgaśīrṣa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Regular vrata-discipline (Dvādaśī fasting) joined with focused worship of Viṣṇu’s names sanctifies the year.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not a single tirtha is named; the teaching appears within the Revā Khaṇḍa’s sacred setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Nirāhāra (fasting) on Dvādaśī and worship of Keśava in the month of Mārgaśīrṣa.