Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 4

Devanagari script

वेदापहारी देवेशि विष्णुना प्रभविष्णुना । कृतं शखोदकं तीर्थं शंखाकारं तु दृश्यते

Transliteration

vedāpahārī deveśi viṣṇunā prabhaviṣṇunā | kṛtaṃ śakhodakaṃ tīrthaṃ śaṃkhākāraṃ tu dṛśyate

Translation

يا سيّدةَ الإله، إن سارقَ الفيدا قد قُهِرَ على يدِ فيشنو، القويّ الكلّيّ النفاذ. وهناك أُقيم تيرثا يُدعى «شَنْخودَكَ»، ويُرى على هيئةِ الصدفةِ المقدّسة (الشَنْخا).

Word by Word

• वेदापहारी: the stealer of the Vedas
• वेदापहारी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेद + अपहारी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (वेदस्य अपहारी = वेदापहारी)

• देवेशि: O goddess (lady of the gods)
• देवेशि: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवेशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• विष्णुना: by Viṣṇu
• विष्णुना: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विष्णु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• प्रभविष्णुना: by the mighty Viṣṇu
• प्रभविष्णुना: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभ + विष्णु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (प्रभः विष्णुः = प्रभविष्णुः)

• कृतम्: made, created
• कृतम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृ (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्ययान्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे ‘made/created’

• शखोदकम्: conch-water (water of/like a conch)
• शखोदकम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शंख + उदक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (शंखस्य उदकम्)

• तीर्थम्: a sacred ford/pilgrimage place
• तीर्थम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• शंखाकारम्: conch-shaped
• शंखाकारम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शंख + आकार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (शंखस्य आकारः)

• तु: indeed, but
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (emphatic/contrastive particle)

• दृश्यते: is seen, appears
• दृश्यते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि प्रयोग (is seen/appears)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva) (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Śaṅkhodaka

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A conch-shaped pool or river-inlet is seen from above; Viṣṇu’s act of subduing the Veda-stealing being is evoked; the landscape frames the waterbody as a sacred emblem.

Characters & Entities

• Viṣṇu
• Vedāpahārī (Veda-stealer)
• Śaṅkhodaka tīrtha
• Śaṅkha (conch)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine protection of the Vedas and dharma sanctifies geography; tīrthas embody the victory of order over theft and chaos.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Śaṅkhodaka tīrtha within the Śaṃkhāvartta/Prabhāsakṣetra sacred landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, the verse identifies a bathing/pilgrimage tīrtha (Śaṅkhodaka), though the act is stated in the next verses.