Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

तपतस्तस्य देवस्य स्वेदः समभवत्किल । तं गिरिं प्लावयामास स स्वेदो रुद्रसंभवः

Transliteration

tapatastasya devasya svedaḥ samabhavatkila | taṃ giriṃ plāvayāmāsa sa svedo rudrasaṃbhavaḥ

Translation

ആ ദേവൻ തപസ്സിൽ ലീനനായിരിക്കെ സത്യമായി അവനിൽ നിന്നു സ്വേദം ഉദിച്ചു. രുദ്രസംബവമായ ആ സ്വേദം പർവ്വതത്തെ എല്ലാടവും പ്ലാവിതമാക്കി.

Word by Word

• तपतः: of (him) performing austerity
• तपतः: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: तप् (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले (लट्-अर्थे) शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; परस्मैपदी; प्रथमा/षष्ठी?—अत्र षष्ठी एकवचन (genitive singular) ‘तपतः’ = ‘of (him) who is doing tapas’

• तस्य: of that (one), his
• तस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन

• देवस्य: of the god
• देवस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन

• स्वेदः: sweat
• स्वेदः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वेद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• समभवत्: arose, came to be
• समभवत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/अनद्यतनभूत), परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; उपसर्ग: सम्+

• किल: indeed, it is said
• किल: Discourse particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किल (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle)

• तम्: that (it)
• तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• गिरिम्: mountain
• गिरिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• प्लावयामास: flooded, caused to overflow
• प्लावयामास: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्लु (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect/परोक्षभूत) परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; णिच् (causative) भाव: ‘to cause to float/flood’

• सः: he/that (sweat)
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• स्वेदः: sweat
• स्वेदः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वेद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• रुद्रसंभवः: born from Rudra
• रुद्रसंभवः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक) + सम्भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (genitive determinative): ‘रुद्रस्य सम्भवः’; पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

Speaker

Manu

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) – Rudra-sveda-janmā (mythic epithet)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: nṛpa (king) addressed in the narrative

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A blazing ascetic Rudra on a mountain; from his body, luminous sweat streams pour down, swelling into torrents that inundate the slopes, foreshadowing a river’s birth.

Characters & Entities

• Rudra
• Ṛkṣaśaila (implied mountain)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purifying sacred waters are portrayed as arising from divine tapas—holiness is born from spiritual heat transformed into grace.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The narrative roots the Revā/Narmadā sanctity in a Shaiva origin linked to a sacred mountain (Ṛkṣaśaila).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse supplies the mythic etiology for later tīrtha practices such as snāna and pilgrimage.