Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

युगरूपेण सा पश्चाच्चतुर्धा विनियोजिता । मदप्रज्ञानुसारेण नराणां तु महर्षिभिः

Transliteration

yugarūpeṇa sā paścāccaturdhā viniyojitā | madaprajñānusāreṇa narāṇāṃ tu maharṣibhiḥ

Translation

Về sau, tùy theo tướng trạng của các thời đại (yuga), các đại hiền triết đã sắp đặt thành bốn phần, phù hợp với năng lực hiểu biết khác nhau của loài người.

Word by Word

• युगरूपेण: in the form of (according to) the yugas
• युगरूपेण: Sahakari (Instrument/साधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युग + रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; समासः—युग + रूप (तत्पुरुषः)

• सा: that (compendium)
• सा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• पश्चात्: afterwards
• पश्चात्: Kala (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पश्चात् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक (temporal adverb)

• चतुर्धा: fourfold
• चतुर्धा: Sambandha (Manner/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: चतुर्धा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकार/संख्यावाचक (adverb: fourfold)

• विनियोजिता: was arranged/assigned
• विनियोजिता: Kriya (Predicative/विधेय)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि + नि + युज् (धातु) → विनियोजित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त) ‘was arranged/assigned’; उपसर्गौ—वि, नि

• मदप्रज्ञानुसारेण: according to my understanding
• मदप्रज्ञानुसारेण: Sahakari (Instrument/साधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मत्(=मद्) + प्रज्ञा + अनुसार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; समासः—मद्(=मम) + प्रज्ञा + अनुसार (तत्पुरुषः; ‘according to my understanding’)

• नराणाम्: of men/for people
• नराणाम्: Sambandha (Possession/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विरोध/विशेष (particle: but/indeed)

• महर्षिभिः: by great sages
• महर्षिभिः: Kartr-karana (Agent-instrument/कर्तृ-करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महर्षि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

Speaker

Mārkaṇḍeya

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nareśvara and ṛṣis

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sages organizing a vast corpus into four divisions: piles of manuscripts being sorted; a symbolic wheel of time (yuga-cakra) behind them; humans of varied stations receiving teachings suited to them.

Characters & Entities

• Maharṣis
• Yugas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma-teaching is compassionate and adaptive—presented in forms suitable to the yuga and the listener’s capacity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None directly; it is a meta-statement about how the Purāṇa was organized.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it explains textual structuring, not a ritual.