Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

धन्यः सोऽपि हि वाल्मीकिर्येन रामायणं कृतम् । कविना विप्रमुख्येभ्य आत्मबुद्ध्या ह्यनागतम्

Transliteration

dhanyaḥ so'pi hi vālmīkiryena rāmāyaṇaṃ kṛtam | kavinā vipramukhyebhya ātmabuddhyā hyanāgatam

Translation

Vālmīki cũng thật phước lành, vì chính ngài đã soạn nên Rāmāyaṇa; vị thi sĩ ấy, nhờ trí tuệ linh cảm tự thân, đã kết thành thiên sử thi này ngay cả trước khi nó được các bậc học giả tối thượng thấu triệt.

Word by Word

• dhanyaḥ: blessed
• dhanyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dhanya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• api: also
• api: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि-कारक अव्यय (also/even)

• hi: indeed
• hi: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• vālmīkiḥ: Vālmīki
• vālmīkiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vālmīki (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• yena: by whom
• yena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• rāmāyaṇam: the Rāmāyaṇa
• rāmāyaṇam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāmāyaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (context: object of kṛtam → द्वितीया)

• kṛtam: composed/made
• kṛtam: Kriya (Predicative/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √kṛ (कृ, धातु) + kta
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे विधेय (was made/composed)

• kavinā: by the poet
• kavinā: Karana (Agent-instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kavi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• vipra-mukhyebhyaḥ: from the foremost brāhmaṇas
• vipra-mukhyebhyaḥ: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra + mukhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative) बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (विप्रेषु मुख्याः)

• ātma-buddhyā: by his own understanding
• ātma-buddhyā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ātman + buddhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (आत्मनः बुद्धिः)

• hi: indeed
• hi: Nipata (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• anāgatam: not yet occurred; future (unknown)
• anāgatam: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: an-āgata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (to rāmāyaṇam)

Speaker

A woman devotee (speaker not named in snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vālmīki-āśrama (conceptual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sage Vālmīki in an āśrama, composing the Rāmāyaṇa with luminous insight; disciples nearby; a subtle vision of Rāma’s story appearing as a divine panorama.

Characters & Entities

• Vālmīki
• Rāmāyaṇa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred history is preserved through divinely guided insight; honoring the seer-poet is part of honoring dharma itself.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is mentioned; the verse glorifies the author and the sacred epic.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is eulogistic, praising composition and transmission of dharmic narrative.