Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 4

Devanagari script

ततोऽहं विस्मयाविष्टस्तं बकं समुदीक्ष्य वै । अस्मिन्महार्णवे घोरे कुतोऽयं पक्षिसंभवः

Transliteration

tato'haṃ vismayāviṣṭastaṃ bakaṃ samudīkṣya vai | asminmahārṇave ghore kuto'yaṃ pakṣisaṃbhavaḥ

Translation

ထို့နောက် ငါသည် အံ့ဩခြင်းဖြင့် ပြည့်နှက်ကာ ထိုဘက (ကြိုးကြာ) ကို စူးစမ်းကြည့်ပြီး “ဤကြောက်မက်ဖွယ် မဟာသမုဒ္ဒရာအတွင်း၌ ငှက်တစ်ကောင် မည်သို့ ပေါ်ပေါက်လာနိုင်သနည်း” ဟု တွေးမိ၏။

Word by Word

• ततः: then
• ततः: Adverbial (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिकात्)
• Form: अव्यय; अनन्तरार्थक क्रियाविशेषण (adverb: then)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, उत्तमपुरुष-सूचक; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; लिङ्ग-अनिश्चित (pronoun)

• विस्मयाविष्टः: overcome with astonishment
• विस्मयाविष्टः: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विस्मय (प्रातिपदिक) + आविष्ट (आ + विश् धातोः क्त-प्रत्ययान्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तृतीया/सप्तमी-भावार्थक तत्पुरुषः (विस्मयेन आविष्टः = seized by wonder), क्त-प्रत्ययान्त विशेषण

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

• बकम्: crane/heron
• बकम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; तम् इत्यस्य विशेष्य-निर्देशः

• समुदीक्ष्य: having looked at
• समुदीक्ष्य: Purvakala (पूर्वकाल क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + उद् + ईक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive), ‘having looked at/observed well’

• वै: indeed
• वै: Discourse particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (निपात)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात—अवधारण/खल्वर्थक (emphatic particle)

• अस्मिन्: in this
• अस्मिन्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• महārṇave: in the great ocean
• महārṇave: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महā (प्रातिपदिक) + अर्णव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (महान् अर्णवः)

• घोरे: terrible, dreadful
• घोरे: Adhikarana (Location qualifier/अधिकरणविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying महārṇवे)

• कुतः: from where, how
• कुतः: Adverbial (प्रश्न-क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कुतः (किम्-प्रातिपदिकात्)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रश्नार्थक क्रियाविशेषण (interrogative adverb: whence/how)

• अयम्: this (one)
• अयम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• पक्षिसंभवः: bird-origin/birth (of a bird)
• पक्षिसंभवः: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पक्षि (प्रातिपदिक) + संभव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (पक्षिणः संभवः = origin/birth of a bird)

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) narrative sphere

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The meditator, eyes opened in astonishment, gazes at the pale crane hovering/standing against a terrifying, boundless ocean; the contrast between dread waters and serene white bird dominates the scene.

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Mahārṇava
• Baka

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Wonder before the impossible becomes the doorway to recognizing the presence of the divine beyond ordinary causality.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None; the verse is set in the cosmic ocean during dissolution.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly.