Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

एवं हि व्याकुलीभूते सर्वौषधिजलोज्झिते । काष्ठभूते तु संजाते त्रैलोक्ये सचराचरे

Transliteration

evaṃ hi vyākulībhūte sarvauṣadhijalojjhite | kāṣṭhabhūte tu saṃjāte trailokye sacarācare

Translation

अशा रीतीने सर्वत्र व्याकुळता पसरते, सर्व औषधी व जल नष्ट/ओसंडून जाते; तेव्हा चराचरांसह त्रैलोक्य जणू कोरड्या काष्ठासारखे होते।

Word by Word

• evam: thus
• evam: Sambandha (Manner/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (thus/in this manner)

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

• vyākulī-bhūte: when (it is) in a disturbed state
• vyākulī-bhūte: Adhikarana (State/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vyākulī (प्रातिपदिक) + bhūta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √bhū)
• Form: सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (PPP) ‘become agitated’; स्त्री/नपुंसक-समरूप (loc. sg.)

• sarva-auṣadhi-jala-ujjhite: when all herbs and water have been cast off/are absent
• sarva-auṣadhi-jala-ujjhite: Adhikarana (State/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + auṣadhi (प्रातिपदिक) + jala (प्रातिपदिक) + ujjhita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √ujjh)
• Form: सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः; भूतकृदन्त (PPP) ‘devoid of/abandoned by’; (sarvā auṣadhayaś ca jalaṃ ca ujjhitam yasmin)

• kāṣṭha-bhūte: when it has become wood-like
• kāṣṭha-bhūte: Adhikarana (State/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kāṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक) + bhūta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √bhū)
• Form: सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (PPP) ‘become like wood’; locative absolute sense with following saṃjāte

• tu: but/indeed
• tu: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विरोध/अन्वय निपात (but/indeed)

• saṃjāte: when (it) has arisen/occurred
• saṃjāte: Adhikarana (State/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam + jan (धातु) → saṃjāta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (PPP) ‘arisen/occurred’; locative absolute continuation

• trailokye: in the three worlds
• trailokye: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tri (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; द्विगु-समासः (three worlds)

• sa-cara-acare: together with the mobile and immobile beings
• sa-cara-acare: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sa (अव्यय) + cara (प्रातिपदिक) + acara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अव्ययीभावः (sa- = ‘with’)—‘with the moving and the unmoving’; विशेषण (qualifies trailokye)

Speaker

A narrator within Revā-khaṇḍa (speaker not explicit in the excerpt; treated as the section’s narrative voice)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A vast tri-loka tableau: parched earth, withered medicinal plants, empty riverbeds; beings and cities blurred by heat-haze; everything looks like dry timber; the air shimmers as if life is being ‘driven away’.

Characters & Entities

• Trailokya (three worlds)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

When the supports of life (water and healing plants) vanish, worldly security collapses; dharma urges seeking the divine refuge beyond material supports.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Revā (Narmadā) is the section’s sacred focus, though this verse provides the pralaya backdrop rather than a named tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None is stated here.