Skanda Purana — Vishnu Khanda, Shloka 47

Devanagari script

सूत उवाच । इत्थं तदा समाकर्ण्य कुम्भयोनिमुनेस्तदा । कृष्णद्वैपायनो व्यासः पुनः पप्रच्छ कौतुकात्

Transliteration

sūta uvāca | itthaṃ tadā samākarṇya kumbhayonimunestadā | kṛṣṇadvaipāyano vyāsaḥ punaḥ papraccha kautukāt

Translation

苏多说道：如是听闻那位“瓶生圣者”（阿迦斯底耶）之言后，黑岛生者毗耶娑（Kṛṣṇa-Dvaipāyana Vyāsa）因殷切好奇，再次发问。

Word by Word

• सूतः: Sūta
• सूतः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• इत्थम्: thus
• इत्थम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इत्थम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (manner adverb)

• तदा: then
• तदा: Kala-adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक (then)

• समाकर्ण्य: having heard
• समाकर्ण्य: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + आ + कर्ण्/कृ (धातु: कर्ण् ‘to hear’ as denominative)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund); ‘having heard’

• कुम्भ-योनि-मुनेः: of the pot-born sage (Agastya)
• कुम्भ-योनि-मुनेः: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुम्भ (प्रातिपदिक) + योनि (प्रातिपदिक) + मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; बहुव्रीहि—कुम्भः योनिः यस्य सः (one whose birth is from a pot) इति; तस्य मुनेः (of the sage Agastya)

• तदा: then
• तदा: Kala-adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक (then)

• कृष्ण-द्वैपायनः: Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana
• कृष्ण-द्वैपायनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्ण (प्रातिपदिक) + द्वैपायन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; कर्मधारय—कृष्णः द्वैपायनः (Kṛṣṇa who is Dvaipāyana)

• व्यासः: Vyāsa
• व्यासः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्यास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; उपपद-सम्बोधन/अपि नाम (apposition to previous)

• पुनः: again
• पुनः: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; पुनरावृत्तिवाचक (again)

• पप्रच्छ: asked
• पप्रच्छ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + पृच्छ् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• कौतुकात्: out of curiosity
• कौतुकात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौतुक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5), एकवचन; हेत्वर्थे (ablative of cause: out of curiosity)

Speaker

Sūta

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Sahasradhārā (introduced by frame)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: (implied) Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A forest-āśrama setting: Sūta recounts how Vyāsa, after hearing Agastya, asks again with bright curiosity; palm-leaf manuscripts, water-pot (kamaṇḍalu), and seated sages in a semicircle.

Characters & Entities

• Sūta
• Agastya (Kumbhayoni)
• Vyāsa (Kṛṣṇa-Dvaipāyana)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Reverent inquiry into tīrtha-māhātmya is itself a devotional act; sacred knowledge is transmitted through respectful dialogue.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Indirectly Sahasradhārā and the Ayodhyā tīrthas, as the dialogue transitions into their detailed praise.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it establishes the narrative setting and the questioning that leads to the tīrtha’s glorification.