Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 55

Devanagari script

अनाशके जलेऽग्नौ तु ये मृता व्याधिपीडिताः । अनिवर्तिका गतिस्तेषां रुद्रलोके ह्यसंशयम्

Transliteration

anāśake jale'gnau tu ye mṛtā vyādhipīḍitāḥ | anivartikā gatisteṣāṃ rudraloke hyasaṃśayam

Translation

ผู้ที่ถูกโรคเบียดเบียนแล้วตายที่นั่น ไม่ว่าตายเพราะอดอาหาร ในสายน้ำ หรือในกองไฟ ย่อมมีคติไม่หวนกลับ คือถึงรูทรโลกโดยไม่ต้องสงสัย

Word by Word

• अनाशके: in a time of fasting; without food
• अनाशके: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनाशक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; अधिकरण—‘अनाशके (काले/अवस्थायाम्)’

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

• अग्नौ: in fire
• अग्नौ: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; अधिकरण

• तु: indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: विशेषार्थक अव्यय (particle)

• ये: who
• ये: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक सर्वनाम

• मृताः: dead; having died
• मृताः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मृत (कृदन्त; √मृ धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त)

• व्याधि-पीडिताः: afflicted by disease
• व्याधि-पीडिताः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: व्याधि (प्रातिपदिक) + पीडित (कृदन्त; √पीड् धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त); ‘व्याधिना पीडिताः’

• अनिवर्तिका: non-returning; irreversible
• अनिवर्तिका: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनिवर्तिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; ‘गतिः’ इत्यस्य विशेषण

• गतिः: course; destiny; state
• गतिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध/स्वाम्य

• रुद्र-लोके: in Rudra’s world
• रुद्र-लोके: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक) + लोक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; अधिकरण—गत्याः स्थानम्

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: हेतौ/निश्चयार्थक अव्यय (particle: indeed/for)

• असंशयम्: without doubt
• असंशयम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: असंशयम् (अव्यय/नपुंसक-रूपेण)
• Form: निश्चयार्थक अव्यय (adverb: without doubt)

Speaker

Unknown (context suggests a Purāṇic narrator addressing a king)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Rudraghaṭa (Revā-tīrtha)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A king (nṛpa)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A compassionate yet awe-filled scene: a sick devotee at the riverbank, attended by family and priests, with Śiva’s presence symbolically guiding the departing soul upward toward Rudra-loka; elements of water and sacrificial fire appear as symbolic modes of death mentioned in the verse.

Characters & Entities

• Rudra
• Rudraloka
• Revā (Narmadā)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

In a supremely sanctified place, even painful or extreme forms of death are transformed into liberation-oriented destiny under Rudra’s grace.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The same Revā tīrtha being praised in Adhyāya 172, associated with Śiva/Rudra and the nearby Śiva-kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No positive rite is commanded; the verse describes the tīrtha’s salvific effect in cases of fasting-death, death in water, or death in fire.