Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 40

Devanagari script

कल्पनामादयो देवि दत्तस्याक्षयकारिकाः । तथा मन्वन्तरस्यादौ द्वादशैव वरानने

Transliteration

kalpanāmādayo devi dattasyākṣayakārikāḥ | tathā manvantarasyādau dvādaśaiva varānane

Translation

يا إلهة، إن أيام «الكَلْبَة» وما شابهها تجعل ثمرات العطية غير نافدة؛ وكذلك عند بدء «المانفنترا» توجد حقًّا اثنتا عشرة مناسبة فاضلة، يا حسناء الوجه.

Word by Word

• kalpanā-ādi-ayaḥ: Kalpanā and others
• kalpanā-ādi-ayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kalpanā (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; ‘kalpanā etc.’ (ādi-समास)

• devi: O Goddess
• devi: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन

• dattasya: of a gift / of giving
• dattasya: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: datta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; ‘दान’

• akṣaya-kārikāḥ: causing imperishability
• akṣaya-kārikāḥ: Predicate adjective (Viśeṣaṇa)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: akṣaya (प्रातिपदिक) + kārikā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• tathā: also
• tathā: Samuccaya (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb; ‘also/likewise’)

• manvantarasya: of a Manvantara
• manvantarasya: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठī-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: manvantara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (प्रयोगे पुंवत्), षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन

• ādau: at the beginning
• ādau: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; ‘at the beginning’

• dvādaśa: twelve
• dvādaśa: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvādaśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्याशब्द; (here) प्रथमा बहुवचनार्थे ‘twelve’ (elliptic: tithayaḥ)

• eva: indeed/only
• eva: Avadhāraṇa (Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• varānane: O fair-faced one
• varānane: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vara-ānana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन; ‘beautiful-faced’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; address to a देवी/varānane indicates narration within Māhātmya dialogue)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Devī is addressed; the speaker describes kalpādy and manvantarādy as supreme occasions. A cosmic diagram (kalpa wheel) overlays the Prabhāsa shrine landscape, linking macrocosm to pilgrimage practice.

Characters & Entities

• Kalpa
• Manvantara
• Dvādaśa (twelve)
• Dāna
• Devī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Cosmic cycles (Kalpa/Manvantara) sanctify particular moments; dharmic acts performed then become exceptionally enduring in merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching is embedded in Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya; the site’s sanctity is the implied backdrop for these prescriptions.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It commends dāna on Kalpa-related and Manvantara-beginning occasions, noting a set of twelve especially auspicious moments at Manvantara’s start.