Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 25

Devanagari script

गृहाणि न द्विभौमानि न च भूतिः स्थिरा द्विजाः । पक्षपातेन वो धर्मो न च निःश्रेयभावतः

Transliteration

gṛhāṇi na dvibhaumāni na ca bhūtiḥ sthirā dvijāḥ | pakṣapātena vo dharmo na ca niḥśreyabhāvataḥ

Translation

«Ваши дома не будут прочно стоять на двух уровнях, и благополучие ваше не станет устойчивым, о дважды-рождённые. Ваш дхарма пойдёт путём пристрастия и раскола, а не ради высшего блага (ниḥшрейаса)».

Word by Word

• गृहाणि: houses
• गृहाणि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गृह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता), बहुवचन

• न: not
• न: Pratiṣedha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• द्विभौमानि: (standing on) two plots/lands
• द्विभौमानि: Karta (Subject qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वि (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + भौम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; द्विगु-समास (द्वौ भौमौ/भूमयौ) ‘गृहाणि’ इत्यस्य विशेषण

• न: not
• न: Pratiṣedha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Coordination)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-निपात (conjunction)

• भूतिः: prosperity
• भूतिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता), एकवचन

• स्थिरा: stable
• स्थिरा: Karta (Subject qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्थिर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘भूतिः’ इत्यस्य विशेषण

• द्विजाः: O Brahmins
• द्विजाः: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, बहुवचन

• पक्षपातेन: by partiality/bias
• पक्षपातेन: Karana (Instrument/means)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पक्षपात (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), एकवचन

• वः: your
• वः: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• धर्मः: dharma/righteousness
• धर्मः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता), एकवचन

• न: not
• न: Pratiṣedha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Coordination)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-निपात

• निःश्रेयभावतः: from (the standpoint of) final beatitude
• निःश्रेयभावतः: Apadana/Hetu (Source/standard)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: निःश्रेयस (प्रातिपदिक) + भाव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (ablatival adverb) ‘-तः’ = ‘from/according to’; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (निःश्रेयसस्य भावः)

Speaker

Lakṣmī (Ramā Devī) (deduced from context 28–29)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic vision of tilted, cracked houses and wavering granaries, while groups of brāhmaṇas split into factions arguing—Devī’s presence above as the moral axis they have lost.

Characters & Entities

• Lakṣmī
• Dvjias (twice-born)
• Niḥśreyasa (highest good)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

When dharma becomes partisan and self-serving, stability—material and spiritual—collapses; true dharma aims at niḥśreyasa (the highest good).

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named; the setting is the Revā Khaṇḍa milieu connected with the sanctity of the Narmadā region.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is an ethical diagnosis of decline rather than a ritual injunction.