Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच । ततो गच्छेत्तु राजेन्द्र तीर्थं परमशोभनम् । उदीर्णो यत्र वाराहो ह्यभवद्धरणीधरः

Transliteration

śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca | tato gacchettu rājendra tīrthaṃ paramaśobhanam | udīrṇo yatra vārāho hyabhavaddharaṇīdharaḥ

Translation

ശ്രീമാർകണ്ഡേയൻ അരുളിച്ചെയ്തു—ഹേ രാജേന്ദ്രാ! അതിനുശേഷം പരമശോഭനമായ ആ തീർത്ഥത്തിലേക്ക് പോകണം; അവിടെ ഉദീർണ്ണ വരാഹൻ പ്രത്യക്ഷനായി ധരണീധരനായി—ഭൂമിയെ ധരിച്ചവനായി—ആയിരുന്നു.

Word by Word

• śrī-mārkaṇḍeyaḥ: the venerable Mārkaṇḍeya
• śrī-mārkaṇḍeyaḥ: Karta (Speaker/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śrī (उपपद/प्रातिपदिक) + mārkaṇḍeya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (honorific epithet)

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• tataḥ: then/from there
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: ततः-शब्दः (adverb: then/from there)

• gacchet: you should go
• gacchet: Kriya (Injunction/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √gam (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• tu: indeed/then
• tu: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle: but/indeed)

• rājendra: O best of kings
• rājendra: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक) + indra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (determinative: ‘king among kings’)

• tīrtham: to the sacred ford/place
• tīrtham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• parama-śobhanam: most splendid
• parama-śobhanam: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक) + śobhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (intensifying descriptive)

• udīrṇaḥ: risen/raised up
• udīrṇaḥ: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: udīrṇa (उद्√īr, कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्यय (past passive participle used adjectivally)

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (relative adverb: where)

• vārāhaḥ: the Boar (incarnation)
• vārāhaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vārāha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle: indeed)

• abhavat: became/was
• abhavat: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/Past), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• dharaṇī-dharaḥ: the bearer of the earth
• dharaṇī-dharaḥ: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharaṇī (प्रातिपदिक) + dhara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (genitive determinative: ‘bearer of the earth’)

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Varāha-tīrtha (unnamed here)

Type: tirtha

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A king (rājendra)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Mārkaṇḍeya addressing a king, pointing toward a radiant tīrtha; in the background Varāha rises in colossal form, earth supported/uplifted, waters swirling—local landscape fused with cosmic myth.

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Varāha
• Tīrtha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pilgrimage to divinely charged places is praised; the tīrtha is sanctified by Viṣṇu’s act of protecting and uplifting the Earth.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A ‘parama-śobhana’ tīrtha associated with Varāha’s manifestation—commonly framed as a Varāha-tīrtha within the Revā Khaṇḍa sacred landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The instruction is to ‘go’ (gacchet) to the tīrtha; no specific snāna/dāna/japa is stated in this verse.