Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 20

Devanagari script

द्वादशादित्यनिर्दग्धे जगत्येकार्णवीकृते । श्रान्तोऽहं विभ्रमंस्तत्र तरन्बाहुभिरर्णवम्

Transliteration

dvādaśādityanirdagdhe jagatyekārṇavīkṛte | śrānto'haṃ vibhramaṃstatra taranbāhubhirarṇavam

Translation

جب بارہ آدتیوں نے جگت کو جلا ڈالا اور سب کچھ ایک ہی سمندر بن گیا، تب میں تھکا ہارا وہاں بھٹکتا رہا، اپنے بازوؤں سے اس سیلابی اَرنَو میں تیرتا ہوا۔

Word by Word

• dvādaśa-āditya-nirdagdhe: when (the world) was burnt by the twelve suns
• dvādaśa-āditya-nirdagdhe: Adhikaraṇa (Locative setting)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvādaśa (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + āditya (प्रातिपदिक) + nir-dagdha (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन; समासः ‘dvādaśabhiḥ ādityaiḥ nirdagdhe’ (instrumental sense within compound); विशेषणम् (jagati)

• jagati: in the world
• jagati: Adhikaraṇa (Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jagat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन

• eka-ārṇavī-kṛte: turned into one ocean
• eka-ārṇavī-kṛte: Adhikaraṇa (Locative setting)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + ārṇavī (प्रातिपदिक) + kṛta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन; समासार्थः ‘ekārṇavībhūte’ (made into a single ocean); विशेषणम् (jagati)

• śrāntaḥ: exhausted
• śrāntaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śrānta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √śram)
• Form: क्त (past participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (aham)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा (Nominative), एकवचन

• vibhraman: wandering
• vibhraman: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Concomitant action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-bhram (धातु)
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), एकवचन; ‘wandering/roaming’

• tatra: there
• tatra: Deśa-adhikaraṇa (Place)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb of place)

• taran: crossing / swimming across
• taran: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Concomitant action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: tṛ (धातु)
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), एकवचन; ‘crossing/swimming’

• bāhubhiḥ: with (my) arms
• bāhubhiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bāhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचन

• arṇavam: the ocean
• arṇavam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arṇava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Accusative), एकवचन

Speaker

A narrator-sage (speaker within Revā Khaṇḍa dialogue; not explicit in the snippet)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nareśvara (king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The earth is scorched by twelve suns; all becomes a single ocean. A lone exhausted seer swims through endless flood under a blazing sky.

Characters & Entities

• Ādityas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Worldly supports collapse during pralaya; endurance alone is insufficient—one must seek divine guidance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it forms the cosmological preface within the Revā Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None stated.