Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 34
Devanagari script
केचित्कृशा ह्रस्वदीर्घाः केचित्स्थूलमहोदराः । व्याघ्रेभमेषाजमुखा नानाप्राणिमहामुखाः
Transliteration
kecitkṛśā hrasvadīrghāḥ kecitsthūlamahodarāḥ | vyāghrebhameṣājamukhā nānāprāṇimahāmukhāḥ
Translation
有的瘦削，有的矮小或高长；有的肥壮而腹大。又有的面如虎、象、公羊或山羊——诸多生类之相，皆为巨面之众。
Word by Word
kecitsome
kecit:
Karta (subject)
TypeNoun
Rootkim + cit (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
Formपुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्; अनिश्चित-सर्वनाम (indefinite pronoun)
kṛśāḥthin
kṛśāḥ:
Karta (predicate adjective)
TypeAdjective
Rootkṛśa (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्
hrasva-dīrghāḥshort and tall
hrasva-dīrghāḥ:
Karta (predicate adjective)
TypeAdjective
Roothrasva (प्रातिपदिक) + dīrgha (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्; द्वन्द्वः (short and tall/long)
kecitsome
kecit:
Karta (subject)
TypeNoun
Rootkim + cit (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
Formपुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्
sthūla-mahā-udarāḥfat, big-bellied
sthūla-mahā-udarāḥ:
Karta (predicate adjective)
TypeAdjective
Rootsthūla (प्रातिपदिक) + mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + udara (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्; कर्मधारयः (sthūlaś ca mahā ca udaraḥ)
vyāghra-ibha-meṣa-aja-mukhāḥhaving faces like tiger/elephant/ram/goat
vyāghra-ibha-meṣa-aja-mukhāḥ:
Karta (predicate adjective)
TypeAdjective
Rootvyāghra (प्रातिपदिक) + ibha (प्रातिपदिक) + meṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + aja (प्रातिपदिक) + mukha (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्; बहुव्रीहिः (vyāghrasya ibhasya meṣasya ajasya iva mukhāni yeṣām)
nānā-prāṇi-mahā-mukhāḥhaving great faces of various creatures
nānā-prāṇi-mahā-mukhāḥ:
Karta (predicate adjective)
TypeAdjective
Rootnānā (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक) + prāṇin (प्रातिपदिक) + mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + mukha (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्; बहुव्रीहिः (nānāvidha-prāṇi-sadṛśa-mahāmukhāni yeṣām)
Speaker
Narrator (contextual, within Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative frame)
Tirtha Mahatmya
Type: kshetra
Visual Art Cues
Scene: A clustered assembly of gaṇas: some emaciated, some stout-bellied; heights vary; faces resemble tiger, elephant, ram, goat—an overwhelming panorama of many species fused into sacred attendants.
Characters & Entities
Ś
Śiva’s gaṇas (implied)FAQs
Śiva’s divine entourage transcends ordinary forms, suggesting that the sacred includes the fierce, the strange, and the many-shaped.
None is named; the focus is on gaṇa-varṇana (description of Śiva’s attendants).
None.