Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

किं नाकं याचयाम्यद्य किमद्य सकलां महीम् । एवं संचिन्तयामास कामबाणेन पीडितः

Transliteration

kiṃ nākaṃ yācayāmyadya kimadya sakalāṃ mahīm | evaṃ saṃcintayāmāsa kāmabāṇena pīḍitaḥ

Translation

“کیا میں آج سوَرگ مانگوں، یا آج ہی ساری زمین مانگ لوں؟” یوں وہ خواہش کے تیروں سے ستایا ہوا دل ہی دل میں سوچتا رہا۔

Word by Word

• kim: what?
• kim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा (Acc./Nom.), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक (interrogative)

• nākam: heaven
• nākam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• yācayāmi: do I ask
• yācayāmi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yāc (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद

• adya: today / now
• adya: Kala-adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (temporal adverb)

• kim: what?
• kim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा (Acc./Nom.), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• adya: today / now
• adya: Kala-adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (temporal adverb)

• sakalām: entire
• sakalām: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sakala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• mahīm: earth
• mahīm: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• evam: thus
• evam: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (manner adverb)

• saṃcintayāmāsa: reflected / deliberated
• saṃcintayāmāsa: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: saṃ-cint (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद; परिप्रयोग (periphrastic perfect)

• kāma-bāṇena: by Cupid's arrow
• kāma-bāṇena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāma (प्रातिपदिक) + bāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन (Singular); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (kāmasya bāṇaḥ = Cupid's arrow)

• pīḍitaḥ: afflicted
• pīḍitaḥ: Kartṛ-samānādhikaraṇa (Subject complement/समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pīḍita (प्रातिपदिक; from √pīḍ)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic voice)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (Narmadā region)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The Dānava sits in anxious contemplation, eyes darting between imagined heaven and earth; subtle personification of Kāma’s arrows—flower-arrows or a faint Kāma figure—presses upon his heart.

Characters & Entities

• Dānava
• Kāma (desire)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Unrestrained desire clouds discernment; craving for dominion (heaven/earth) becomes the seed of suffering.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Revā (Narmadā) sacred milieu frames the chapter, but this verse highlights inner psychology rather than a particular tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse describes mental deliberation driven by desire.