Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 6

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मचारिभिराकीर्णं गार्हस्थ्ये सुप्रतिष्ठितैः । वानप्रस्थैश्च यतिभिर्यताहारैर्यतात्मभिः

Transliteration

brahmacāribhirākīrṇaṃ gārhasthye supratiṣṭhitaiḥ | vānaprasthaiśca yatibhiryatāhārairyatātmabhiḥ

Translation

ആ പുണ്യപ്രദേശം ബ്രഹ്മചാരികളാൽ നിറഞ്ഞിരുന്നു; ഗാർഹസ്ഥ്യത്തിൽ സുസ്ഥിരരായ ഗൃഹസ്ഥന്മാരാൽ ശോഭിച്ചു; കൂടാതെ വാനപ്രസ്ഥരും യതികളും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു—അവർ ആഹാരത്തിൽ സംയമികളും മനസ്സിൽ ആത്മനിയന്ത്രണമുള്ളവരും.

Word by Word

• ब्रह्मचारिभिः: by brahmacārins (celibate students)
• ब्रह्मचारिभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मचारिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• आकीर्णम्: filled/crowded
• आकीर्णम्: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ+कॄ (धातु) → आकीर्ण (क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त-भूतकृत् (क्त/PPP) विशेषण; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; धातु: कॄ/किर् (to scatter/fill) with उपसर्ग आ

• गार्हस्थ्ये: in the householder stage
• गार्हस्थ्ये: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गार्हस्थ्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• सुप्रतिष्ठितैः: by those well-established
• सुप्रतिष्ठितैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु+प्र+स्था (धातु) → सुप्रतिष्ठित (क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त-भूतकृत् (क्त/PPP) विशेषण; पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; धातु: स्था with उपसर्ग प्र, and सु- (intensifier)

• वानप्रस्थैः: by vānaprasthas (forest-dwellers)
• वानप्रस्थैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वानप्रस्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय-बोधक

• यतिभिः: by ascetics
• यतिभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• यत-आहारैः: by those of restrained diet
• यत-आहारैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यत (प्रातिपदिक) + आहार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; कर्मधारय (यतः आहारः येषां ते) विशेषण

• यत-आत्मभिः: by self-controlled ones
• यत-आत्मभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यत (प्रातिपदिक) + आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; कर्मधारय (यतः आत्मा येषां ते) विशेषण

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya (narrating to Yudhiṣṭhira, inferred from vocative in the passage)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Narmadā-tīra āśrama-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: ‘mahābhāga’ interlocutor

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A panoramic riverbank community: young brahmacārins carrying firewood and waterpots; householders tending cows and maintaining fires; vānaprasthas in bark garments; yatis seated in meditation under a banyan, all near the flowing Narmadā.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmacārin
• Gṛhastha
• Vānaprastha
• Yati

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Holiness is upheld when all four āśramas live with discipline—especially self-restraint and regulated conduct.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Revā (Narmadā) region/banks, presented as a sanctified landscape populated by dhārmic practitioners.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is prescribed here; the emphasis is on tapas-oriented lifestyle disciplines like restraint of diet and mind.