Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 30

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मांडानि सहस्राणि दृश्यंते च महाद्युते । न वेत्ति वेदो यत्पारं शीर्षघातो हि वै कथम्

Transliteration

brahmāṃḍāni sahasrāṇi dṛśyaṃte ca mahādyute | na vetti vedo yatpāraṃ śīrṣaghāto hi vai katham

Translation

हे महाद्युते! हजारो ब्रह्मांडे दिसतात. ज्याचा पराकाष्ठा वेदालाही कळत नाही, त्याचा ‘शीर्षघात’ म्हणजे अंतिम टोक गाठणे कसे शक्य होईल?

Word by Word

• brahmāṇḍāni: cosmic eggs/universes
• brahmāṇḍāni: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahma-aṇḍa (ब्रह्म + अण्ड प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (ब्रह्मणः अण्डम्), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• sahasrāṇi: thousands (of)
• sahasrāṇi: Karta (Qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन (संख्यावाचक-विशेषण)

• dṛśyante: are seen
• dṛśyante: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (दृश् धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन, आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि प्रयोग (are seen)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय

• mahā-dyute: O great-lustrous one
• mahā-dyute: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā-dyuti (महा + द्युति प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (‘महती द्युतिः यस्य’), पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचन

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय

• vetti: knows
• vetti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vid (विद् धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• vedaḥ: the Veda
• vedaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: veda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• yat: which/that
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (यद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), एकवचन

• pāram: the far end/limit
• pāram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), एकवचन

• śīrṣa-ghātaḥ: head-strike / striking with the head
• śīrṣa-ghātaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śīrṣa-ghāta (शीर्ष + घात प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (शीर्षे घातः/शीर्षस्य घातः), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• hi: indeed/for
• hi: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात-अव्यय (indeed/for)

• vai: certainly
• vai: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात-अव्यय (certainly)

• katham: how?
• katham: Sambandha (Interrogative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb)

Speaker

Yudhiṣṭhira (continuing question/context)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A visionary panorama: thousands of brahmāṇḍas like luminous eggs floating in vastness; a radiant, immeasurable divine presence beyond them; sages acknowledging that even Veda cannot reach the farthest shore—no ‘final head’ to strike or end to attain.

Characters & Entities

• Veda
• Brahmāṇḍas (universes)
• Mahādyuti (addressed figure, contextually Vyāsa or the interlocutor)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ultimate reality exceeds conceptual and textual limits; reverence and humility are the proper response to the Infinite.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No particular tīrtha is specified; the verse elevates the Dharmāraṇya narrative by situating it within vast Purāṇic cosmology.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a philosophical reflection on the limits of knowledge.