Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 25

Devanagari script

अज्ञानतिमिरान्धस्य ज्ञानांजनशलाकया

Transliteration

ajñānatimirāndhasya jñānāṃjanaśalākayā

Translation

جو جہالت کی تاریکی سے اندھا ہو گیا ہو—اس کے لیے علم کے سرمے کی سلائی سے (وہ تاریکی) دور ہو جاتی ہے۔

Word by Word

• ajñāna-timira-andhasya: of the one blinded by the darkness of ignorance
• ajñāna-timira-andhasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ajñāna (प्रातिपदिक) + timira (प्रातिपदिक) + andha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष: ‘अज्ञानरूप-तिमिरेण अन्धस्य’ (one blind due to the darkness of ignorance)

• jñāna-añjana-śalākayā: with the collyrium-stick of knowledge
• jñāna-añjana-śalākayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jñāna (प्रातिपदिक) + añjana (प्रातिपदिक) + śalākā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: ‘ज्ञानरूपेण अञ्जनेन शलाका’ / ‘ज्ञानाञ्जनस्य शलाका’

Speaker

Unspecified (fragmentary pāda; likely part of a conventional ‘opening the eye of knowledge’ formulation)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A guru-like figure applies a symbolic ‘knowledge-collyrium’ to the eyes of an ignorance-blinded seeker; darkness recedes into a haloed dawn over the Narmadā waters.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ignorance is spiritual blindness; knowledge functions like an eye-medicine that restores true sight.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No site is named in this fragment; it serves as a doctrinal bridge within the Revā/Narmadā Māhātmya narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No external ritual is stated; the ‘prescription’ is cultivation of jñāna (spiritual knowledge).