Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

कथयामि यथावृत्तमितिहासं पुरातनम्

Transliteration

kathayāmi yathāvṛttamitihāsaṃ purātanam

Translation

“เราจักเล่าอิติหาสะโบราณนี้ให้ตรงตามที่ได้เกิดขึ้นจริง”

Word by Word

• कथयामि: I narrate/tell
• कथयामि: Kriyā (Predicate verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कथय् (धातु, नामधातु from कथा)
• Form: लट् (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• यथा-वृत्तम्: as it happened/according to events
• यथा-वृत्तम्: Karma (Object-qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यथा (अव्यय) + वृत्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √वृत् ‘to happen/occur’)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (इतिहासम् इति)

• इतिहासम्: legend/history
• इतिहासम्: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इतिहास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• पुरातनम्: ancient
• पुरातनम्: Karma (Object-qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पुरातन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (इतिहासम् इति)

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: the king (contextual)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The sage opens a palm-leaf manuscript and begins the ancient account; the scene shifts from dialogue to storytelling, with a faint vignette of past events forming in the air like a mural-cloud.

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• itihāsa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇas frame moral and theological teaching through faithful transmission of ancient narratives (itihāsa) told “as it happened.”

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is named in this line; it introduces a narrative within the Revā-khaṇḍa’s broader tīrtha-focused setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is an announcement of narration (kathana) rather than a ritual instruction.