Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

धन्यः सोऽपि हि वाल्मीकिर्येन रामायणं कृतम् । कविना विप्रमुख्येभ्य आत्मबुद्ध्या ह्यनागतम्

Transliteration

dhanyaḥ so'pi hi vālmīkiryena rāmāyaṇaṃ kṛtam | kavinā vipramukhyebhya ātmabuddhyā hyanāgatam

Translation

വാല്മീകിയും തീർച്ചയായും ധന്യൻ; അദ്ദേഹത്താൽ രാമായണം രചിക്കപ്പെട്ടു. ആ കവി തന്റെ അന്തഃപ്രേരിത ബുദ്ധിയാൽ അതിനെ സൃഷ്ടിച്ചു; അത് അന്നോളം പ്രമുഖ വിപ്രന്മാർക്കും പൂർണ്ണമായി അറിയപ്പെട്ടിരുന്നില്ല.

Word by Word

• dhanyaḥ: blessed
• dhanyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dhanya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• api: also
• api: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि-कारक अव्यय (also/even)

• hi: indeed
• hi: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• vālmīkiḥ: Vālmīki
• vālmīkiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vālmīki (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• yena: by whom
• yena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• rāmāyaṇam: the Rāmāyaṇa
• rāmāyaṇam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāmāyaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (context: object of kṛtam → द्वितीया)

• kṛtam: composed/made
• kṛtam: Kriya (Predicative/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √kṛ (कृ, धातु) + kta
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे विधेय (was made/composed)

• kavinā: by the poet
• kavinā: Karana (Agent-instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kavi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• vipra-mukhyebhyaḥ: from the foremost brāhmaṇas
• vipra-mukhyebhyaḥ: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra + mukhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative) बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (विप्रेषु मुख्याः)

• ātma-buddhyā: by his own understanding
• ātma-buddhyā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ātman + buddhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (आत्मनः बुद्धिः)

• hi: indeed
• hi: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• anāgatam: not yet occurred; future (unknown)
• anāgatam: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: an-āgata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (to rāmāyaṇam)

Speaker

A woman devotee (speaker not named in snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vālmīki-āśrama (conceptual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sage Vālmīki in an āśrama, composing the Rāmāyaṇa with luminous insight; disciples nearby; a subtle vision of Rāma’s story appearing as a divine panorama.

Characters & Entities

• Vālmīki
• Rāmāyaṇa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred history is preserved through divinely guided insight; honoring the seer-poet is part of honoring dharma itself.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is mentioned; the verse glorifies the author and the sacred epic.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is eulogistic, praising composition and transmission of dharmic narrative.