Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 41

Devanagari script

शुक्ले वा यदि वा कृष्णे संप्राप्ते हरिवासरे । यः पश्यति हृषीकेशमश्वमेधफलं लभेत्

Transliteration

śukle vā yadi vā kṛṣṇe saṃprāpte harivāsare | yaḥ paśyati hṛṣīkeśamaśvamedhaphalaṃ labhet

Translation

Ob in der hellen oder in der dunklen Monatshälfte: Wenn der Hari geweihte Tag eintritt, erlangt, wer Hṛṣīkeśa schaut, die Frucht des Aśvamedha-Opfers.

Word by Word

• śukle: in the bright (fortnight)
• śukle: Adhikaraṇa (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śukla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; पक्षवाचक (in the bright fortnight)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प-अव्यय (disjunctive particle: or)

• yadi: if
• yadi: Sambandha (Condition/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्त-अव्यय (conditional particle: if)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प-अव्यय (or)

• kṛṣṇe: in the dark (fortnight)
• kṛṣṇe: Adhikaraṇa (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛṣṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; पक्षवाचक (in the dark fortnight)

• saṃprāpte: when it has come/occurred
• saṃprāpte: Adhikaraṇa (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam + prāp (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; ‘संप्राप्ते’ = when arrived/occurred

• hari-vāsare: on Hari’s day (Sunday/Viṣṇu’s day)
• hari-vāsare: Adhikaraṇa (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hari (प्रातिपदिक) + vāsara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (हरेः वासरे)

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• paśyati: sees
• paśyati: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• hṛṣīkeśam: Hṛṣīkeśa (Vishnu)
• hṛṣīkeśam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hṛṣīkeśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• aśvamedha-phalam: the fruit of the Aśvamedha sacrifice
• aśvamedha-phalam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aśvamedha (प्रातिपदिक) + phala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (अश्वमेधस्य फलम्)

• labhet: would obtain
• labhet: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: labh (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Unnamed Purāṇic narrator (contextual speaker within Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hṛṣīkeśa (Arbuda)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: a king (nṛpa-sattama)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Two lunar halves are shown—bright and dark—while a calendar-marked ‘Hari-vāsara’ frames a pilgrim’s darśana of Hṛṣīkeśa; in the distance, a symbolic Aśvamedha altar appears as a faded comparison.

Characters & Entities

• Hṛṣīkeśa
• Hari
• Harivāsara
• Aśvamedha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Right timing joined with devotion—seeing the Lord on a Viṣṇu-sacred day—is exalted as surpassing costly Vedic rites.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Hṛṣīkeśa in the Arbuda section (site implied; emphasis on darśana on Harivāsara).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Darśana of Hṛṣīkeśa on Harivāsara (a day dedicated to Hari), regardless of lunar fortnight.