Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 42

Devanagari script

असंख्यत्वाच्च चंद्राणां जन्मनामप्रभेदतः । मन्वन्तरे तु संजाते युगानामेकसप्ततौ

Transliteration

asaṃkhyatvācca caṃdrāṇāṃ janmanāmaprabhedataḥ | manvantare tu saṃjāte yugānāmekasaptatau

Translation

«لأن الأقمار لا تُحصى، ولاختلاف مواليدها وأسمائها؛ فإذا نشأ مَنْوَنْتَرَة (Manvantara)—وهو مؤلَّف من إحدى وسبعين يوغا—جرت الدورات على هذا النحو.»

Word by Word

• असंख्यत्वात्: because of innumerability
• असंख्यत्वात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: असंख्यत्व (प्रातिपदिक); असंख्य (प्रातिपदिक) + त्व (तद्धित)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन; हेत्वर्थ-अपादानम् (ablative of cause: ‘because of innumerability’)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• चन्द्राणाम्: of the moons/Chandras
• चन्द्राणाम्: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध (genitive)

• जन्मनामप्रभेदतः: due to the differences in births and names
• जन्मनामप्रभेदतः: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्म-नाम-प्रभेद (प्रातिपदिक); जन्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + नामन् (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रभेद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन; तसिल्-अर्थे पञ्चमी/अव्ययीभावार्थः (from/owing to the distinctions of births and names)

• मन्वन्तरे: in a manvantara
• मन्वन्तरे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्वन्तर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; अधिकरणम् (in a manvantara)

• तु: indeed; but
• तु: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: विरोध/अवधारण-अव्यय (particle: but/indeed)

• संजाते: when (it) has arisen/occurred
• संजाते: Adhikarana (Locative absolute/सति-सप्तमी)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-जा (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय, past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; सति-सप्तमी (locative absolute: ‘when it has occurred’)

• युगानाम्: of the yugas
• युगानाम्: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन

• एकसप्ततौ: in (the count of) seventy-one
• एकसप्ततौ: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एक-सप्तति (प्रातिपदिक); एक (संख्या) + सप्तति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; संख्या-तत्पुरुषः (in the seventy-one)

Speaker

Devī (continuing her query, contextually)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Somnātha / Prabhāsa

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva’s reply (or the doctrinal explanation) invokes countless moons and the manvantara unit of seventy-one yugas; visualizable as a cosmic chart behind the speakers.

Characters & Entities

• Candra (Moon)
• Manvantara
• Yuga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Puranic teaching frames sacred history within vast cosmic cycles, reminding devotees that divine sanctity transcends changing ages and forms.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The discussion belongs to Prabhāsa Kṣetra’s Somanātha narrative, setting a cosmological backdrop for the shrine’s enduring fame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is stated; the verse concerns time-cycles (Manvantara and yuga enumeration).