Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 31

Devanagari script

सुव्यक्ताङ्गी महाकाया महती तेन सा स्मृता । तस्माद्विक्षोभ्यमाणा हि दिग्गजैरम्बुदोपमैः

Transliteration

suvyaktāṅgī mahākāyā mahatī tena sā smṛtā | tasmādvikṣobhyamāṇā hi diggajairambudopamaiḥ

Translation

اس کے اعضا واضح ہیں اور اس کا جسم نہایت عظیم ہے؛ اسی لیے وہ ‘مہتی’ کے نام سے یاد کی جاتی ہے۔ لہٰذا وہ سمتوں کے دِگّجوں کے ذریعے—گھنے بادلوں جیسے—ہلائی اور مَتھی جاتی ہے۔

Word by Word

• su-vyakta-aṅgī: having well-manifest limbs
• su-vyakta-aṅgī: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su (उपसर्ग/पूर्वपद) + vyakta (प्रातिपदिक) + aṅgī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — nominative singular; विशेषण

• mahā-kāyā: great-bodied
• mahā-kāyā: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahā (पूर्वपद) + kāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — nominative singular; विशेषण

• mahatī: great
• mahatī: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — nominative singular; विशेषण

• tena: therefore/by that
• tena: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन — instrumental singular (therefore/by that)

• sā: she
• sā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — nominative singular

• smṛtā: is called/considered
• smṛtā: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: smṛ (धातु) + ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त/PPP), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — past passive participle used predicatively (‘is called/considered’)

• tasmāt: from that/therefore
• tasmāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन — ablative singular (from that/therefore)

• vikṣobhyamāṇā: being agitated
• vikṣobhyamāṇā: Kriya (Participial action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi + kṣubh (धातु) + yamāna (शानच्/कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले कर्मणि/आत्मनेपद-भावे शानच् कृदन्त, स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — ‘being agitated’

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle) — emphasis/indeed

• dig-gajaiḥ: by the elephants of the quarters
• dig-gajaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dik (प्रातिपदिक) + gaja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन — instrumental plural

• ambuda-upamaiḥ: cloud-like
• ambuda-upamaiḥ: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ambuda (प्रातिपदिक) + upama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन — instrumental plural; विशेषण (to diggajaiḥ)

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic voice)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) — Mahatī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The immense river-goddess with clearly defined limbs, her vast body spanning the horizon; four (or eight) cloud-like diggajas at the quarters stir the waters, creating sacred turbulence and foam.

Characters & Entities

• Narmadā (Mahatī)
• Diggaja (elephants of the directions)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The tīrtha is portrayed as cosmic in scale; Narmadā’s greatness is not merely physical but symbolic of universal sacred order.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Narmadā (Revā) is glorified through her epithet ‘Mahatī’ and her mythic-cosmic description.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual is prescribed; the verse deepens reverence by depicting the river as a divine, cosmic reality.