Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

तत्र मध्ये परां शय्यां पश्यामि नृपसत्तम । शय्योपरि शयानं तु पुरुषं दिव्यमूर्धजम्

Transliteration

tatra madhye parāṃ śayyāṃ paśyāmi nṛpasattama | śayyopari śayānaṃ tu puruṣaṃ divyamūrdhajam

Translation

وہاں اس کے بیچ میں، اے بہترین بادشاہ، میں نے ایک اعلیٰ ترین شَیّا دیکھی؛ اور اس شَیّا پر ایک شخص لیٹا تھا جس کے بال دیویہ تھے۔

Word by Word

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (locative adverb: ‘there’)

• मध्ये: in the middle
• मध्ये: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; ‘in the middle’ (locative)

• पराम्: supreme, excellent
• पराम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying śayyām)

• शय्याम्: bed, couch
• शय्याम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शय्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्मपदम्

• पश्यामि: I see
• पश्यामि: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/वर्तमान); उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• नृपसत्तम: O best of kings
• नृपसत्तम: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप + सत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; ‘श्रेष्ठः नृपः’ इति (address)

• शय्या-उपरि: upon the bed
• शय्या-उपरि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: शय्या (प्रातिपदिक) + उपरि (अव्यय)
• Form: उपरि इति अव्ययम्; ‘शय्यायाम् उपरि’ (on the bed) — पदद्वयम् (sandhi-resolved)

• शयानम्: lying down
• शयानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शी (धातु) + शानच् (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (present participle); पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying puruṣam)

• तु: indeed, but
• तु: Sambandha/Discourse particle
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle: emphasis/contrast)

• पुरुषम्: a man, person
• पुरुषम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्मपदम्

• दिव्य-मूर्धजम्: having divine hair
• दिव्य-मूर्धजम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दिव्य (प्रातिपदिक) + मूर्धज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (‘दिव्यः मूर्धजः’ = divine hair); विशेषणम् (qualifying puruṣam)

Speaker

Unspecified narrator (addressing a king)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha (general Revākhaṇḍa locus)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: King (nṛpa-sattama) addressed by the narrator

Visual Art Cues

Scene: In the center of a sanctified space near the Revā, a radiant, elevated couch appears; upon it lies a divine Person with luminous, otherworldly hair, witnessed by a king addressed as ‘best of kings’.

Characters & Entities

• Puruṣa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True pilgrimage culminates in darśana—an encounter with the divine presence at the heart of reality.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is within the Revā Khaṇḍa context; it gestures to the sanctity of the Revā region rather than naming a single tirtha here.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the focus is on the vision of the deity.