Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

तस्मिन्नष्टे कपालं तत्क्षिप्तं मंडपबाह्यतः । अथान्यत्तत्र संजातं तद्रूपं च वरानने

Transliteration

tasminnaṣṭe kapālaṃ tatkṣiptaṃ maṃḍapabāhyataḥ | athānyattatra saṃjātaṃ tadrūpaṃ ca varānane

Translation

فلما توارى، سقطت تلك الجمجمة المقذوفة خارج المظلة. ثم، يا ذات الوجه الحسن، ظهر هناك من جديد شيءٌ آخر على الهيئة نفسها.

Word by Word

• tasmin: when/while he (was)
• tasmin: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• naṣṭe: having vanished / when (he) disappeared
• naṣṭe: Adhikaraṇa (Locative absolute/सति-सप्तमी)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: naṣṭa (कृदन्त; √naś/नश्, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; सति-सप्तमी (locative absolute)

• kapālam: the skull
• kapālam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kapāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• tat: that
• tat: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सर्वनाम-विशेषण

• kṣiptam: thrown
• kṣiptam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṣipta (कृदन्त; √kṣip/क्षिप्, क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त)

• maṃḍapa-bāhyataḥ: from outside the pavilion
• maṃḍapa-bāhyataḥ: Apādāna (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: maṃḍapa (प्रातिपदिक) + bāhya (प्रातिपदिक) + tas (तसिल्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तसिलन्त (ablatival adverb) ‘-from’; तत्पुरुष (maṃḍapasya bāhya-)

• atha: then
• atha: Discourse marker (सम्बन्ध/अन्वय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनुक्रमसूचक

• anyat: another (thing/form)
• anyat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक (locative adverb)

• saṃjātam: arisen, produced
• saṃjātam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: saṃjāta (कृदन्त; √jan/जन् + सम्, क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त)

• tat: that
• tat: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सर्वनाम-विशेषण

• rūpam: form
• rūpam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Connector (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय

• varānane: O fair-faced one
• varānane: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varānanā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, संबोधन (8th), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator within Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Varānanā (addressed as ‘lovely-faced one’, Devī/Umā)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Outside the pavilion, the thrown skull lies on the ground; beside it, a second identical skull manifests, startling the onlookers who peer from the maṇḍapa threshold.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva (implied)
• kapāla (skull-bowl)
• yajña-maṇḍapa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine power is not constrained by material continuity; the sacred space becomes a theater of revelation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra, where miraculous signs arise around ritual activity, confirming the site’s sanctity.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse situates the event around the yajña pavilion (maṇḍapa); it implies ritual context rather than stating a specific rule.