Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 13

Devanagari script

अथ ते मुनयो दृष्ट्वा विकृतिं दारसंभवाम् । अजानन्तो महादेवं रुष्टास्तस्य महात्मनः

Transliteration

atha te munayo dṛṣṭvā vikṛtiṃ dārasaṃbhavām | ajānanto mahādevaṃ ruṣṭāstasya mahātmanaḥ

Translation

Da sahen jene Weisen die seltsame Verstörung, die aus der Angelegenheit der Gattinnen entstand; da sie nicht erkannten, dass er Mahādeva war, wurden sie zornig auf den großherzigen.

Word by Word

• atha: then
• atha: Sambandha (Discourse/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अनन्तरार्थक-अव्यय (sequence particle: 'then')

• te: they
• te: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• munayaḥ: sages
• munayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• dṛṣṭvā: having seen
• dṛṣṭvā: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund): 'having seen'

• vikṛtim: distortion/aberration
• vikṛtim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vikṛti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• dārasaṃbhavām: arising from (their) wives
• dārasaṃbhavām: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dāra + saṃbhava (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: 'arising from wives' (qualifying vikṛtim)

• ajānantaḥ: not knowing
• ajānantaḥ: Karta (Descriptive/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jñā (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (present active participle/शतृ) with negation a-; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• mahādevam: Mahādeva (Śiva)
• mahādevam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahādeva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मधारय: mahā + deva

• ruṣṭāḥ: angered
• ruṣṭāḥ: Karta (State/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ruṣṭa (प्रातिपदिक; √ruṣ धातु-निष्पन्न)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• tasya: at him/of him
• tasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• mahātmanaḥ: of the great-souled one
• mahātmanaḥ: Sambandha (Genitive apposition/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; कर्मधारय: mahā + ātman

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) (deduced: Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa narrative frame)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Arbuda-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: rājarṣi

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sages, seeing their wives’ altered demeanor, misread the situation; their brows knit, hands tense around kamaṇḍalus and daṇḍas, while the disguised Śiva remains calm and inscrutable.

Characters & Entities

• munayaḥ
• Mahādeva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Judging by appearances and failing to recognize divinity can lead even ascetics into error; humility and discernment are central to dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The wider episode belongs to Arbuda-kṣetra (Arbuda/Ārbuḍa, associated with the Mount Abu sacred landscape) within the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual instruction appears in this verse; it sets up the narrative cause for subsequent sacred actions concerning the liṅga.