Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 13

Devanagari script

सूत उवाच । साधु पृष्टं कुलपते चरित्रं नर्मदाश्रितम् । चित्रं पवित्रं दोषघ्नं श्रुतमुक्तं च सत्तम

Transliteration

sūta uvāca | sādhu pṛṣṭaṃ kulapate caritraṃ narmadāśritam | citraṃ pavitraṃ doṣaghnaṃ śrutamuktaṃ ca sattama

Translation

سوت نے کہا: اے عالی نسب کے سردار! تم نے نرمدا سے وابستہ اس مقدس حکایت کے بارے میں خوب پوچھا ہے۔ یہ عجیب، پاک کرنے والی اور عیوب کو مٹانے والی ہے؛ یہ سننے اور بیان کرنے کے لائق ہے، اے نیکوں میں افضل۔

Word by Word

• sūtaḥ: Sūta
• sūtaḥ: Karta (Speaker/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sūta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• sādhu: well / good
• sādhu: Bhāva (Evaluation/भाव)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sādhu (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रशंसावाचक (approbative particle/adverb)

• pṛṣṭam: asked
• pṛṣṭam: Kriyā (Predicative/क्रिया-विशेष)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prach (धातु) → pṛṣṭa (कृदन्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; impersonal ‘it has been asked’

• kula-pate: O lord of the lineage
• kula-pate: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kula (प्रातिपदिक) + pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘कुलस्य पतिः’)

• caritram: account/deed/story
• caritram: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) — of implied ‘is’
• Type: Noun
• Root: caritra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• narmadā-āśritam: connected with Narmadā
• narmadā-āśritam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: narmadā (प्रातिपदिक) + ā-√śri (धातु) → āśrita (कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः: ‘नर्मदाम् आश्रितम्’ qualifying caritram; kta-participle

• citram: wonderful
• citram: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: citra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; predicate adjective of caritram

• pavitram: purifying
• pavitram: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pavitra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; predicate adjective

• doṣa-ghnam: destroying faults
• doṣa-ghnam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: doṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + ghna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; उपपद-तत्पुरुषः (‘दोषान् हन्ति’)

• śruta-uktam: heard and spoken (traditional and declared)
• śruta-uktam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śruta (कृदन्त) + ukta (कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; द्वन्द्वः (इतरेतर) ‘श्रुतं च उक्तं च’ used as epithet

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• sattama: O best of the good
• sattama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sat (प्रातिपदिक) + tama (प्रत्यय) → sattama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन; superlative used in address

Speaker

Sūta

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā/Narmadā (caritra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Kulpati / noble lineage lord (addressed as ‘kulapate’) and the assembled audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sūta, seated in a sacred assembly, praises the Narmadā narrative as wondrous and fault-destroying, declaring it worthy to be heard and retold.

Characters & Entities

• Sūta
• Narmadā (Revā)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Hearing (śravaṇa) and sharing (kīrtana) tīrtha-māhātmya is itself purifying and removes moral and spiritual blemishes.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Narmadā/Revā as a whole is praised; the verse frames the entire Revā Khaṇḍa as a tīrtha-māhātmya discourse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The implied practice is śravaṇa and pravacana—listening to and narrating the māhātmya—though no formal vow or rite is specified.