Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 75

Devanagari script

शाकिनीडाकिनीसंघा यक्षिण्योऽथ सहस्रशः । नानाकेलिषु संयुक्ताः परस्परमुदान्विताः

Transliteration

śākinīḍākinīsaṃghā yakṣiṇyo'tha sahasraśaḥ | nānākeliṣu saṃyuktāḥ parasparamudānvitāḥ

Translation

శాకినీ-డాకినీల గుంపులు, అలాగే వేలాది యక్షిణులు, నానావిధ ఉన్మత్త క్రీడలలో కలిసి, పరస్పరం ఉల్లాసంతో మదించేవారు.

Word by Word

• śākinī-ḍākinī-saṃghāḥ: groups of śākinīs and ḍākinīs
• śākinī-ḍākinī-saṃghāḥ: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śākinī (शाकिनी) + ḍākinī (डाकिनी) + saṃgha (संघ) (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन — masculine nominative plural; 'groups of śākinīs and ḍākinīs'

• yakṣiṇyaḥ: yakṣiṇīs
• yakṣiṇyaḥ: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yakṣiṇī (यक्षिणी) (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन — feminine nominative plural

• atha: then
• atha: Sambandha (Discourse marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (अनन्तर/प्रसङ्ग) — indeclinable 'then/now'

• sahasraśaḥ: by thousands
• sahasraśaḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sahasraśas (सहस्रशस्) (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (प्रकार/परिमाण) — distributive adverb 'by thousands'

• nānā-keliṣu: in various revelries
• nānā-keliṣu: Adhikaraṇa (Location/Context)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nānā (नाना) + keli (केलि) (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), बहुवचन — locative plural; 'in various sports/plays'

• saṃyuktāḥ: engaged, united
• saṃyuktāḥ: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: saṃyukta (संयुक्त) < sam-√yuj (युज्) (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन — past participle used adjectivally; 'joined/engaged'

• parasparam: mutually
• parasparam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: paraspara (परस्पर) (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (परस्पर-भावे) — reciprocal adverb

• udānvitāḥ: accompanied by loud cries
• udānvitāḥ: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: udāna (उदान) + anvita (अन्वित) < anu-√i (इ) / √vṛt? (प्रयोगे 'अन्वित') (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन — past participle used adjectivally; 'endowed with loud cries/uproar (udāna)'

Speaker

Lomaśa (contextual narrator)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kedāra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A strange nocturnal revel: thousands of yakṣiṇīs with śākinī-ḍākinī hosts dance and play in frenzied, uncanny sports; ornaments glint; the surrounding landscape remains dark and war-torn, heightening the surreal contrast.

Characters & Entities

• Śākinī
• Ḍākinī
• Yakṣiṇī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Purāṇic battlefield is also a moral theater: when order collapses, uncanny forces surge—signaling the need for dharmic alignment.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific site is named in this verse; it remains within Kedārakhaṇḍa’s wider sacred narrative frame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.