Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 20

Devanagari script

त्वं वृद्धिस्त्वं गतिः कर्त्री शची लक्ष्मीश्च पार्वती । सावित्री त्वं च गायत्री अजेया पापनाशिनी

Transliteration

tvaṃ vṛddhistvaṃ gatiḥ kartrī śacī lakṣmīśca pārvatī | sāvitrī tvaṃ ca gāyatrī ajeyā pāpanāśinī

Translation

Du bist Wachstum und Gedeihen; Du bist Weg und Ziel; Du bist die Handelnde und die Schaffende. Du bist Śacī, Lakṣmī und Pārvatī. Du bist Sāvitrī und Gāyatrī—unbesiegbar, die Vernichterin der Sünde.

Word by Word

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (युष्मद्-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्

• vṛddhiḥ: growth; prosperity
• vṛddhiḥ: Pradhana/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛddhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (युष्मद्-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्

• gatiḥ: movement; refuge; course
• gatiḥ: Pradhana/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्

• kartrī: doer; creatrix
• kartrī: Pradhana/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛ (कृ धातु) + tṛ (तृच्-प्रत्यय, कर्तृ-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्; कर्तृवाचक-नाम (agent noun)

• śacī: Śacī (Indrāṇī)
• śacī: Pradhana/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śacī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचनम् (इन्द्रपत्नी-नाम)

• lakṣmīḥ: Lakṣmī
• lakṣmīḥ: Pradhana/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lakṣmī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्

• ca: and
• ca: Connector (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चयार्थक-निपातः

• pārvatī: Pārvatī
• pārvatī: Pradhana/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pārvatī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्

• sāvitrī: Sāvitrī
• sāvitrī: Pradhana/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sāvitrī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (युष्मद्-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्

• ca: and
• ca: Connector (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चयार्थक-निपातः

• gāyatrī: Gāyatrī
• gāyatrī: Pradhana/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gāyatrī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्

• ajeyā: unconquerable
• ajeyā: Pradhana/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a- (नञ्) + jeya (जि धातु, यत्-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्; विशेषणम्

• pāpanāśinī: destroyer of sins
• pāpanāśinī: Pradhana/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + nāśinī (नश् धातु, णिनि-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (पापं नाशयति)

Speaker

Devas (collective praise to the Devī)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Arbuda-devī (as Gāyatrī-śakti)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Devī stands radiant, with iconographic hints of Śacī (Indra’s queen), Lakṣmī (lotus and śrī), and Pārvatī (mountain/triśūla association), while a Vedic Gāyatrī mantra scroll or sun-disc (Sāvitrī) glows behind her; devotees seek pāpa-nāśa.

Characters & Entities

• Devī
• Śacī
• Lakṣmī
• Pārvatī
• Sāvitrī
• Gāyatrī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

All divine functions—prosperity, guidance, creative agency, and mantra-power—are unified in the one Devī who also purifies beings by destroying sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Arbuda region is the narrative setting, but this verse specifically glorifies the Devī’s universal forms rather than a named tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

By invoking Gāyatrī/Sāvitrī, it implicitly highlights japa and Vedic recitation as purifying disciplines, though no explicit injunction is stated.