Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

अवंतीविषये कश्चिद्ब्राह्मणो मंदराह्वयः । बभूव विषयारामः स्त्रीजितो धनसंग्रही

Transliteration

avaṃtīviṣaye kaścidbrāhmaṇo maṃdarāhvayaḥ | babhūva viṣayārāmaḥ strījito dhanasaṃgrahī

Translation

عَونتی کے علاقے میں مندرہ نام کا ایک برہمن رہتا تھا۔ وہ حِسّی لذتوں میں مگن، عورتوں کے غلبے میں اور مال جمع کرنے کی حرص میں مبتلا ہو گیا۔

Word by Word

• अवंती-विषये: in the region of Avanti
• अवंती-विषये: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अवंती (प्रातिपदिक) + विषय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (अवंत्याः विषयः)

• कश्चित्: a certain (one)
• कश्चित्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कश्चित् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन; अनिश्चित-सर्वनाम (indefinite pronoun)

• ब्राह्मणः: a Brahmin
• ब्राह्मणः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• मंदर-आह्वयः: named Mandara
• मंदर-आह्वयः: Karta (Apposition/समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मंदर (प्रातिपदिक) + आह्वय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (मंदर इति आह्वयः यस्य)

• बभूव: became/was
• बभूव: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

• विषय-आरामः: delighting in sense-objects
• विषय-आरामः: Karta (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विषय (प्रातिपदिक) + आराम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (विषयेषु आरामः यस्य)

• स्त्री-जितः: conquered by women
• स्त्री-जितः: Karta (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्त्री (प्रातिपदिक) + जि (धातु) → जित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त), कर्मणि-प्रयोगार्थ; तत्पुरुष-समास (स्त्रिया जितः)

• धन-संग्रही: a hoarder of wealth
• धन-संग्रही: Karta (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धन (प्रातिपदिक) + संग्रही (प्रातिपदिक; √ग्रह with उपसर्ग सम्, agent-noun)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (धनस्य संग्रही)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator; specific speaker not explicit in this snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Āvantya (Ujjayinī-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A brāhmaṇa in Avanti, surrounded by wealth and sensual comforts, turning away from Vedic restraint; the sacred city’s distant temples/river remain as a silent backdrop.

Characters & Entities

• Avanti
• Mandara

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It warns that attachment to pleasures and greed can erode a brāhmaṇa’s dharmic conduct and inner freedom.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse situates the narrative in Avanti (Ujjayinī region), a major sacred landscape often associated with Śaiva holiness, though no single tirtha is named in this line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None here; it is a character-description setting up a dharma narrative.