Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 40

Devanagari script

जगत्सृष्टिविनाशानां कारणाय नमोनमः । एवं स्तुतो महादेवः पूर्वं सृष्टया मयानघ

Transliteration

jagatsṛṣṭivināśānāṃ kāraṇāya namonamaḥ | evaṃ stuto mahādevaḥ pūrvaṃ sṛṣṭayā mayānagha

Translation

Sembah sujud berulang-ulang kepada Punca penciptaan dan peleburan alam semesta. Demikianlah, wahai yang suci tanpa noda, pada awal kejadian dahulu aku telah memuji Mahādeva.

Word by Word

• जगत्सृष्टिविनाशानाम्: of the creation and destruction of the world
• जगत्सृष्टिविनाशानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगत्सृष्टिविनाश (प्रातिपदिक; जगत् + सृष्टि + विनाश)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग-समाहारार्थे, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (जगतः सृष्टिः विनाशः च)

• कारणाय: to the cause
• कारणाय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कारण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी, एकवचन

• नमः: salutation
• नमः: Bhava (Exclamation/भाव)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• नमः: salutation (again)
• नमः: Bhava (Exclamation/भाव)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; पुनरुक्ति

• एवम्: thus
• एवम्: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• स्तुतः: praised
• स्तुतः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्तु (धातु) + त (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past passive participle/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि-भावः—‘स्तुतः’ = praised

• महादेवः: Mahādeva
• महादेवः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महादेव (प्रातिपदिक; महा + देव)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• पूर्वम्: formerly / earlier
• पूर्वम्: Sambandha (Temporal/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पूर्वम् (अव्यय/नपुंसक-रूप)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal adverb)

• सृष्टया: by (my) creation / by creation
• सृष्टया: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सृष्टि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; साधन/हेतु-भावे

• मया: by me
• मया: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अस्मद्-प्रयोगः, तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन

• अनघ: O sinless one
• अनघ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनघ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन; विशेषण-रूपेण संबोधन

Speaker

Unnamed devotee/narrator (within Mārkaṇḍeya’s narration context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: ‘anagha’ addressed explicitly here

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Cosmic panorama: Śiva as the still center while worlds emerge and dissolve around him; overlay with a small foreground of Revā riverbank where the narrator offers stuti, linking cosmic and local.

Characters & Entities

• Mahādeva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Recognize Śiva as the ultimate cause behind cosmic cycles; praise (stuti) aligns the mind with that truth.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tirtha is named in this verse; it supports the broader Revā Khaṇḍa sacred landscape by grounding it in Śiva’s cosmic sovereignty.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is prescribed; the act emphasized is stuti—devotional praise and repeated salutations.