Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 31

Devanagari script

यथा दक्षो दक्षपुत्रा स्तथा सप्तर्षयश्च ये । ततः प्रजानां पतयः प्राभवन्नेकविंशतिः

Transliteration

yathā dakṣo dakṣaputrā stathā saptarṣayaśca ye | tataḥ prajānāṃ patayaḥ prābhavannekaviṃśatiḥ

Translation

Wie Dakṣa und die Söhne Dakṣas zu Ahnherren wurden, so auch die Saptarṣis. Aus ihnen gingen einundzwanzig Herren der Geschöpfe (Prajāpatis) hervor, die das Entfalten der Nachkommenschaft lenkten.

Word by Word

• यथा: just as
• यथा: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमान/तुलना-वाचक (comparative particle: “as/just as”)

• दक्षः: Dakṣa
• दक्षः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन (Singular)

• दक्षपुत्राः: the sons of Dakṣa
• दक्षपुत्राः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dakṣa + putra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन (Plural); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (genitive determinative: “sons of Dakṣa”)

• तथा: so, likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय/तुलना-वाचक (correlative: “so/likewise”)

• सप्तर्षयः: the seven sages
• सप्तर्षयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sapta + ṛṣi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन (Plural); द्विगु-समासः (numeral compound: “seven sages”)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय-बोधक (conjunction: “and”)

• ये: who
• ये: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन (Plural); सम्बन्ध-सूचक सर्वनाम (relative pronoun: “who/which”)

• ततः: thereafter, from that
• ततः: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अपादान/क्रम-वाचक (ablatival adverb: “from there/thereafter”)

• प्रजानाम्: of creatures/offspring
• प्रजानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prajā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/Genitive); बहुवचन (Plural)

• पतयः: lords, masters
• पतयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन (Plural)

• प्राभवन्: arose, came into being
• प्राभवन्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√bhū (भू धातु)
• Form: लुङ् (Aorist/लुङ्); परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष (3rd); बहुवचन (Plural); उपसर्गः ‘प्र’

• एकविंशतिः: twenty-one
• एकविंशतिः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ekaviṃśati (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन (Singular); संख्या (cardinal: 21)

Speaker

Śiva (contextual; confirmed explicitly at 8.39)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic genealogy tableau: Dakṣa with his progenitive aura, Saptarṣis seated in a semicircle, and a symbolic emergence of twenty-one prajāpatis as luminous figures emanating from the primordial order.

Characters & Entities

• Dakṣa
• Saptarṣi
• Prajāpati

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Creation is portrayed as dharma-ordered: progeny and governance arise through divinely instituted lineages rather than randomness.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is praised in this verse; it functions as cosmological groundwork within the Dharmāraṇya section.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is genealogical/cosmological rather than prescriptive.