Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 10

Devanagari script

ततो ह्येकार्णवं सर्वं विभज्य परमेश्वरः । विस्तीर्णोपलतोयौघां सरित्सरविवर्धिताम्

Transliteration

tato hyekārṇavaṃ sarvaṃ vibhajya parameśvaraḥ | vistīrṇopalatoyaughāṃ saritsaravivardhitām

Translation

அதன்பின் பரமேசுவரன் அந்த ஒரே, அனைத்தையும் சூழ்ந்த மகாசமுத்திரத்தைப் பிரித்து, நதிகளும் ஏரிகளும் பெருகச் செய்த, பாறைகளும் நீர்வெள்ளங்களும் பரந்த பூமியை வெளிப்படுத்தினார்।

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then; thereafter
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) — ‘ततः’ = ‘then/from there’

• hi: indeed; for
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• eka-ārṇavam: the single ocean; one flood
• eka-ārṇavam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + ārṇava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन — ‘एकम् आर्णवम्’

• sarvam: entire; all
• sarvam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (सर्व-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन — विशेषणम् (eka-ārṇavam इति)

• vibhajya: having divided
• vibhajya: Kriya (Gerundial action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-√bhaj (भज् धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund) — ‘having divided/partitioned’

• parameśvaraḥ: the Supreme Lord
• parameśvaraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parama-īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन — ‘परमः ईश्वरः’

• vistīrṇa-upala-toya-ogham: a wide torrent of stones and water
• vistīrṇa-upala-toya-ogham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vistīrṇa (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √stṛ) + upala (प्रातिपदिक) + toya (प्रातिपदिक) + ogha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — समासविशेषणम्; ‘विस्तीर्णः उपल-तोय-ओघः’ (stone-and-water flood spread out)

• saritsara-vivardhitām: increased by rivers and lakes
• saritsara-vivardhitām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarit (प्रातिपदिक) + sara (प्रातिपदिक) + vivardhita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, vi-√vṛdh)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — विशेषणम् (…-ogham इत्यस्य/अन्तर्भूत-स्त्रीलिङ्ग-सम्बन्धेन); ‘सरित्-सरोभिः विवर्धिता’

Speaker

Unknown (contextual narrator in Revā Khaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha-frame (implicit)

Type: river

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Parameśvara stands in a cosmic vista, ‘dividing’ the single ocean into ordered expanses; rivers branch like silver veins, lakes gleam, rocky cataracts surge across a newly articulated earth.

Characters & Entities

• Parameśvara
• Primeval ocean (ekārṇava)
• Rivers and lakes

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine order arises from chaos; the Lord establishes habitable worlds and sacred waterways that become supports for dharma and pilgrimage.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not a single site; the imagery of rivers and lakes prepares for the Revā (Narmadā) sacred landscape described in the section.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; it is descriptive cosmology.