Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 54

Devanagari script

त्रिंशत्कल्पैः स्मृतो मासो वर्षं द्वादशभिस्तु तैः । अनेन वर्षमानेन तदा ब्रह्माऽष्टवार्षिकः । आनीतः सोमराजेन सोमनाथः प्रतिष्ठितः

Transliteration

triṃśatkalpaiḥ smṛto māso varṣaṃ dvādaśabhistu taiḥ | anena varṣamānena tadā brahmā'ṣṭavārṣikaḥ | ānītaḥ somarājena somanāthaḥ pratiṣṭhitaḥ

Translation

يُذْكَرُ أن «الشهر» يتكوّن من ثلاثين كَلْبًا، وأن «السنة» من اثني عشر (شهرًا) من هذا القبيل. وبهذا الحساب كان براهما آنذاك ابنَ ثماني سنين؛ وقد جاء «سوماراجا» (ملك القمر) بـ(الرب) وأقام «سومناثا» في «برابهاسا».

Word by Word

• triṃśatkalpaiḥ: by/with thirty kalpas
• triṃśatkalpaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: triṃśat (प्रातिपदिक) + kalpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचन; संख्या-तत्पुरुष (triṃśat kalpaiḥ)

• smṛtaḥ: is reckoned/remembered
• smṛtaḥ: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √smṛ (धातु); smṛta (कृदन्त, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘is considered/remembered’

• māsaḥ: a month
• māsaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• varṣam: a year
• varṣam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• dvādaśabhiḥ: by twelve
• dvādaśabhiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvādaśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (संख्याशब्द), तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचन; ‘by twelve’

• tu: and/but
• tu: Sambandha (Discourse/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: विरोध/विशेषार्थक अव्यय (particle: but/indeed)

• taiḥ: by those (i.e., those months)
• taiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• anena: by this
• anena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• varṣamānena: by the year-measure
• varṣamānena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣamāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन; ‘measure/standard of a year’

• tadā: then
• tadā: Kāla (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक अव्यय (adverb of time)

• brahmā: Brahmā
• brahmā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• aṣṭavārṣikaḥ: eight-year-old
• aṣṭavārṣikaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭa (प्रातिपदिक) + vārṣika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (aṣṭa-varṣikaḥ = eight-year-old) विशेषण

• ānītaḥ: brought
• ānītaḥ: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √nī (धातु) + ā-; ānīta (कृदन्त, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘was brought’

• somarājena: by Soma-king (Moon)
• somarājena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: soma (प्रातिपदिक) + rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (somasya rājā)

• somanāthaḥ: Somanātha (Lord of Soma)
• somanāthaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: soma (प्रातिपदिक) + nātha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (somasya nāthaḥ)

• pratiṣṭhitaḥ: installed/established
• pratiṣṭhitaḥ: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √sthā (धातु) + prati-; pratiṣṭhita (कृदन्त, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘was स्थापित/installed’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa māhātmya narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Somnātha at Prabhāsa

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Somarāja (Moon-god) in a radiant chariot carrying a sacred liṅga or leading a procession to the seashore shrine; Brahmā as a youthful figure in the background marking cosmic ‘eight years’; Somnātha temple being established with Vedic rites.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā
• Somarāja (Candra)
• Somnātha
• Prabhāsa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Prabhāsa-Somnātha is portrayed as a shrine grounded in cosmic time: the tīrtha’s sanctity is as ancient and authoritative as creation’s own measures.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Somnātha at Prabhāsa Kṣetra (Saurāṣṭra/Gujarat) is explicitly mentioned as established by Somarāja.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is prescribed here; it records the consecration (pratiṣṭhā) of Somnātha and the cosmic chronology framing it.