Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 2

Devanagari script

अग्निप्रवेशश्च जलेऽथवा मृत्युरनाशके । अनिवर्तिका गतिस्तस्य यथा मे शङ्करोऽब्रवीत्

Transliteration

agnipraveśaśca jale'thavā mṛtyuranāśake | anivartikā gatistasya yathā me śaṅkaro'bravīt

Translation

ไม่ว่าเขาจะเข้าสู่ไฟ หรือสู่สายน้ำ หรือประสบความตายในสถานที่อันไม่เสื่อมสลาย—หนทางเบื้องหน้าของเขาย่อมเป็นไปอย่างไม่หวนกลับ ดังที่พระศังกรเคยตรัสแก่ข้าพเจ้า

Word by Word

• अग्निप्रवेशः: entering into fire
• अग्निप्रवेशः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि-प्रवेश (प्रातिपदिक; अग्नि + प्रवेश)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय-बोधक (conjunction)

• जले: in water
• जले: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन

• अथवा: or
• अथवा: Vikalpa (विकल्प)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथवा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विकल्पार्थक (or)

• मृत्युः: death
• मृत्युः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत्यु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• अनाशके: in the indestructible (place/state)
• अनाशके: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनाशक (प्रातिपदिक; अ-नाशक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (स्थाने/अधिकरणे)

• अनिवर्तिका: irreversible, not turning back
• अनिवर्तिका: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ-निवर्तिका (प्रातिपदिक; अ + निवर्तिका)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (गतिः)

• गतिः: course, fate, path
• गतिः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• तस्य: of that (person/thing)
• तस्य: Shashthi-sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध (of him/that)

• यथा: as, just as
• यथा: Sambandha/Upamana (सम्बन्ध/उपमान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमान/प्रकारवाचक (as/just as)

• मे: to me / my
• मे: Sampradana/Anubandha (सम्प्रदान/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; एन्क्लिटिक-रूपम् (my/to me contextually)

• शङ्करः: Śaṅkara (Śiva)
• शङ्करः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शङ्कर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• अब्रवीत्: told, spoke
• अब्रवीत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ब्रू (धातु)
• Form: लुङ् (अनद्यतनभूत/aorist), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

Unspecified in the snippet (contextually within Revā Khaṇḍa narration; likely a narrator relaying Śiva’s statement)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Narmadeśvara / Revā-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahīpāla (king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Mārkaṇḍeya recounts Śaṅkara’s words; symbolic vignettes show a devotee meeting death by fire, by water, and by natural causes within a radiant kṣetra boundary, with a luminous path upward indicating ‘anivartikā gati’.

Characters & Entities

• Śaṅkara (Śiva)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Contact with the ‘undestructible’ sacred sphere yields an irreversible spiritual trajectory—pointing toward liberation and non-return.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse points to a sanctified ‘anāśaka’ locus within the Revā Khaṇḍa setting (Narmadā/Revā sacred landscape), though the exact named tīrtha is not stated in this single line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is prescribed here; it emphasizes the metaphysical consequence (anivartikā gati) associated with the sacred context.