Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 12
सर्वौषधीनामशनं प्रधानं सर्वेषु पेयेषु जलं प्रधानम् । निद्रा सुखानां प्रमदा रतीनां सर्वेषु गात्रेषु शिरः प्रधानम्
sarvauṣadhīnāmaśanaṃ pradhānaṃ sarveṣu peyeṣu jalaṃ pradhānam | nidrā sukhānāṃ pramadā ratīnāṃ sarveṣu gātreṣu śiraḥ pradhānam
Entre todos os remédios, o alimento é o principal; entre todas as bebidas, a água é a principal. Entre os prazeres, o sono é o principal; entre as delícias do amor, a mulher amada é a principal. Entre todos os membros, a cabeça é a principal.
Mārkaṇḍeya
Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira (addressed as nṛpasattama in the sequence)
Scene: A sage instructs a king with a sequence of emblematic vignettes: a bowl of nourishing food, a clear water vessel, a sleeping figure, a loving couple, and a crowned head highlighted as the chief limb—arranged like a didactic tableau.
FAQs
Purāṇic teaching often uses everyday hierarchies to prepare the listener for recognizing the ‘foremost’ among sacred things.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as an analogy supporting the coming praise of Śuklatīrtha/Narmadā.
None; it is a proverbial, instructional verse.