Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 34

Devanagari script

जपेच्च त्र्यक्षरं मंत्र षण्मुखं च यदृच्छया । मंत्रराजेति यः पूर्वं तवाख्यातो मया प्रिये

Transliteration

japecca tryakṣaraṃ maṃtra ṣaṇmukhaṃ ca yadṛcchayā | maṃtrarājeti yaḥ pūrvaṃ tavākhyāto mayā priye

Translation

وعليه أيضًا أن يردد جَپَا المانترا ذات المقاطع الثلاثة، ومانترا شَنموخا (Ṣaṇmukha) ذي الوجوه الستة، بحسب الاستطاعة. وتلك التي أخبرتكِ بها من قبل، يا حبيبتي، بوصفها «ملك المانترا»—

Word by Word

• japet: should mutter/recite
• japet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jap (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• tri-akṣaram: three-syllabled
• tri-akṣaram: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक) + akṣara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास; विशेषण

• mantram: mantra
• mantram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mantra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; कर्म

• ṣaṇmukham: Ṣaṇmukha (six-faced one, Skanda)
• ṣaṇmukham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ṣaṭ (प्रातिपदिक) + mukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास; (षड्मुखः) स्कन्द/कार्त्तिकेय-नाम; कर्म

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• yadṛcchayā: spontaneously/as it comes
• yadṛcchayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yadṛcchā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), एकवचन; करण; अर्थे—स्वेच्छया/यथालाभम्

• mantrarāja-iti: as ‘Mantrarāja’
• mantrarāja-iti: Vacana (Quotation/वचन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: mantra (प्रातिपदिक) + rāja (प्रातिपदिक) + iti (अव्यय)
• Form: इति-समाप्तिसूचक अव्यय; उद्धरण/नामनिर्देश (as ‘Mantrarāja’)

• yaḥ: which/that (mantra)
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक-सर्वनाम

• pūrvam: previously
• pūrvam: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: pūrva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभावे नपुंसक-द्वितीया एकवचनरूपेण क्रियाविशेषण; कालवाचक (formerly/before)

• tava: to you/your
• tava: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध (genitive)

• ākhyātaḥ: was told/declared
• ākhyātaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā + √khyā (धातु) + kta (क्त) → ākhyāta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त; ‘कथितः’ (told)

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3), एकवचन; कर्तृ-करण (agent in passive)

• priye: O beloved
• priye: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: priyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8), एकवचन; संबोधन

Speaker

Unknown (speaker addresses ‘priye’; likely a deity/sage instructing a close interlocutor, but not explicit in snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: ‘Priye’—a dear interlocutor (often a goddess/consort figure in puranic dialogue styles)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim at Prabhāsa sits facing the sacred precinct, lips softly moving in japa; the sea-breeze and temple banners frame the act of mantra-recitation, suggesting the ‘king of mantras’ being recalled as earlier taught.

Characters & Entities

• Ṣaṇmukha
• Skanda

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Regular japa—especially of revered seed-mantras and Skanda’s mantra—is upheld as a practical discipline adaptable to one’s capacity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa Kṣetra, where mantra-japa is integrated into the pilgrimage rite sequence.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Japa of a three-syllabled mantra, japa connected with Ṣaṇmukha (Skanda), and remembrance of the previously taught Mantrarāja.