Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 10

Devanagari script

ततो ह्येकार्णवं सर्वं विभज्य परमेश्वरः । विस्तीर्णोपलतोयौघां सरित्सरविवर्धिताम्

Transliteration

tato hyekārṇavaṃ sarvaṃ vibhajya parameśvaraḥ | vistīrṇopalatoyaughāṃ saritsaravivardhitām

Translation

پھر پرمیشور نے اُس ایک، ہمہ گیر مہاساگر کو تقسیم کیا؛ اور زمین پر پھیلے ہوئے پانیوں کے بہاؤ—چٹانوں اور تیز دھاروں کے وسیع پھیلاؤ، دریاؤں اور جھیلوں سے بڑھتے ہوئے—سب کو ظاہر کیا۔

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then; thereafter
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) — ‘ततः’ = ‘then/from there’

• hi: indeed; for
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• eka-ārṇavam: the single ocean; one flood
• eka-ārṇavam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + ārṇava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन — ‘एकम् आर्णवम्’

• sarvam: entire; all
• sarvam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (सर्व-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन — विशेषणम् (eka-ārṇavam इति)

• vibhajya: having divided
• vibhajya: Kriya (Gerundial action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-√bhaj (भज् धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund) — ‘having divided/partitioned’

• parameśvaraḥ: the Supreme Lord
• parameśvaraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parama-īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन — ‘परमः ईश्वरः’

• vistīrṇa-upala-toya-ogham: a wide torrent of stones and water
• vistīrṇa-upala-toya-ogham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vistīrṇa (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √stṛ) + upala (प्रातिपदिक) + toya (प्रातिपदिक) + ogha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — समासविशेषणम्; ‘विस्तीर्णः उपल-तोय-ओघः’ (stone-and-water flood spread out)

• saritsara-vivardhitām: increased by rivers and lakes
• saritsara-vivardhitām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarit (प्रातिपदिक) + sara (प्रातिपदिक) + vivardhita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, vi-√vṛdh)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — विशेषणम् (…-ogham इत्यस्य/अन्तर्भूत-स्त्रीलिङ्ग-सम्बन्धेन); ‘सरित्-सरोभिः विवर्धिता’

Speaker

Unknown (contextual narrator in Revā Khaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha-frame (implicit)

Type: river

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Parameśvara stands in a cosmic vista, ‘dividing’ the single ocean into ordered expanses; rivers branch like silver veins, lakes gleam, rocky cataracts surge across a newly articulated earth.

Characters & Entities

• Parameśvara
• Primeval ocean (ekārṇava)
• Rivers and lakes

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine order arises from chaos; the Lord establishes habitable worlds and sacred waterways that become supports for dharma and pilgrimage.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not a single site; the imagery of rivers and lakes prepares for the Revā (Narmadā) sacred landscape described in the section.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; it is descriptive cosmology.