Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 24

Devanagari script

कल्पांतकाटोपपटुप्रकोपः स्फुटाट्टहासोच्चलितांडकोशः । घोरारिसेनार्णवदुर्निवारमहाभयाद्रक्षतु वीरभद्रः

Transliteration

kalpāṃtakāṭopapaṭuprakopaḥ sphuṭāṭṭahāsoccalitāṃḍakośaḥ | ghorārisenārṇavadurnivāramahābhayādrakṣatu vīrabhadraḥ

Translation

Möge Vīrabhadra uns vor dem großen, unwiderstehlichen Schrecken schützen: er, dessen grimmiger Zorn scharf und überwältigend ist wie die Katastrophe am Ende eines Äons; dessen dröhnendes, berstendes Lachen die kosmischen Hüllen erzittern lässt; und der selbst gegen das furchtbare, ozeangleiche Heer der Feinde unbesiegbar ist.

Word by Word

• कल्पान्त-काटोप-पटु-प्रकोपः: whose fierce wrath is intense like the tumult at the end of an aeon
• कल्पान्त-काटोप-पटु-प्रकोपः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कल्पान्त + काटोप + पटु + प्रकोप (प्रातिपदिक); कल्पान्तकाटोपपटुप्रकोप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st); एकवचन (Singular)

• स्फुट-आट्टहास-उच्चलित-अण्डकोशः: whose cosmic egg-shell is shaken by a clear loud laughter
• स्फुट-आट्टहास-उच्चलित-अण्डकोशः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्फुट + आट्टहास + उच्चलित + अण्डकोश (प्रातिपदिक); स्फुटाट्टहासोच्चलिताण्डकोश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st); एकवचन (Singular)

• घोर-अरि-सेना-अर्णव-दुर्निवार-महाभयात्: from the great, irresistible terror (like) an ocean of dreadful enemy-armies
• घोर-अरि-सेना-अर्णव-दुर्निवार-महाभयात्: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: घोर + अरि + सेना + अर्णव + दुर्निवार + महाभय (प्रातिपदिक); घोरारिसेनार्णवदुर्निवारमहाभय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative/5th); एकवचन (Singular)

• रक्षतु: may (he) protect
• रक्षतु: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: रक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative/आज्ञार्थ); प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd); एकवचन (Singular); परस्मैपद

• वीरभद्रः: Vīrabhadra
• वीरभद्रः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वीरभद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st); एकवचन (Singular)

Speaker

Unspecified in the verse; contextually a Purāṇic narrator within the Brāhma Khaṇḍa (likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa addressing sages).

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Vīrabhadra towering, eyes blazing, garlanded with skulls, roaring laughter shaking the cosmic spheres; below, an ocean-like army recoils as a protective aura forms around devotees.

Characters & Entities

• Vīrabhadra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Refuge (śaraṇāgati) in Śiva’s fierce protective power—Vīrabhadra—as the remover of overwhelming fear and hostility.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as a general Śaiva protective praise (stuti) centered on Vīrabhadra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit vrata, dāna, snāna, or japa is prescribed here; the verse itself is framed as a protective invocation (rakṣā-stotra).