Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 25

Devanagari script

अपश्यं नर्मदां तत्र मातरं विश्ववन्दिताम् । नानातरङ्गां सावर्तां सुवेलार्णवसंनिभाम्

Transliteration

apaśyaṃ narmadāṃ tatra mātaraṃ viśvavanditām | nānātaraṅgāṃ sāvartāṃ suvelārṇavasaṃnibhām

Translation

അവിടെ ഞാൻ ലോകവന്ദിതയായ മാതാ നർമദയെ ദർശിച്ചു. അനവധി തരംഗങ്ങളും ചുഴികളും നിറഞ്ഞ അവൾ, ഉയർന്ന തീരങ്ങളാൽ പരിമിതമായ സമുദ്രത്തെപ്പോലെ തോന്നി।

Word by Word

• अपश्यम्: I saw
• अपश्यम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √पश् (धातु)
• Form: लङ्-लकार (Imperfect/Past), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन (singular); परस्मैपदम्

• नर्मदाम्: Narmadā (river)
• नर्मदाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर्मदा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular)

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; स्थानवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (locative adverb)

• मातरम्: mother
• मातरम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मातृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular)

• विश्ववन्दिताम्: praised by the whole world
• विश्ववन्दिताम्: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विश्व + वन्दित (कृदन्त; √वन्द्)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular); भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle)

• नाना-तरङ्गाम्: having various waves
• नाना-तरङ्गाम्: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नाना (अव्यय) + तरङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular)

• सावर्ताम्: with whirlpools/eddies
• सावर्ताम्: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स + आवर्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular)

• सुवेला-अर्णव-संनिभाम्: resembling the ocean at Suvelā (mountain)
• सुवेला-अर्णव-संनिभाम्: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुवेला (प्रातिपदिक) + अर्णव (प्रातिपदिक) + संनिभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Bhārata / best of kings (royal interlocutor)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim-narrator beholds Narmadā as a vast, wave-filled Mother-river, with swirling eddies and high banks like ocean shores.

Characters & Entities

• Narmadā (Revā)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Narmadā is revered as a living Mother and tīrtha; beholding her is presented as a sacred encounter that uplifts the devotee amid worldly turbulence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Mother Narmadā (Revā) herself—the river-tīrtha central to the Revā Khaṇḍa—rather than a single named ghat or ford.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated, but the verse supports the tīrtha-logic of darśana (seeing the river) as spiritually significant.