Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

प्रह्लाद उवाच । अहो क्षेत्रस्य माहात्म्यं समंताद्दशयोजनम् । दिविष्ठा यत्र पश्यंति सर्वानेव चतुर्भुजान्

Transliteration

prahlāda uvāca | aho kṣetrasya māhātmyaṃ samaṃtāddaśayojanam | diviṣṭhā yatra paśyaṃti sarvāneva caturbhujān

Translation

Prahlāda sprach: O welch wunderbare Größe besitzt diese Kṣetra—zehn Yojanas weit nach allen Seiten—wo die Bewohner des Himmels alle als Vierarmige, in göttlicher Gestalt, erblicken.

Word by Word

• prahlādaḥ: Prahlāda
• prahlādaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prahlāda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/perfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• aho: ah!, oh!
• aho: Bhāva-prakāśaka (Exclamation/भाव)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: aho (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (विस्मयादिबोधक/interjection)

• kṣetrasya: of the sacred place
• kṣetrasya: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• māhātmyam: greatness, glory
• māhātmyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māhātmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd Nom/Acc), एकवचन

• samantāt: on all sides
• samantāt: Deśa-kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Spatial adverbial/देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: samantāt (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (उपसर्गार्थक/दिक्कालवाचक; ‘on all sides’)

• daśa-yojanam: ten-yojana (in extent)
• daśa-yojanam: Pramāṇa-viśeṣaṇa (Measure qualifier/प्रमाण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: daśa + yojana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—द्विगु (दश योजने प्रमाणम्)

• diviṣṭhāḥ: those dwelling in heaven (gods)
• diviṣṭhāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: diviṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; ‘दिवि स्थिताः’ (heaven-dwellers)

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikaraṇa (Relative locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (सम्बन्ध/स्थानवाचक relative adverb)

• paśyanti: see
• paśyanti: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान/present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन

• sarvān: all
• sarvān: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन; विशेषण

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Avadhāraṇa (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (अवधारण/emphatic particle)

• catur-bhujān: four-armed ones
• catur-bhujān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: catur + bhuja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन; समासः—बहुव्रीहि (चत्वारो भुजाः यस्य)

Speaker

Prahlāda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dvārakā-kṣetra (daśa-yojana-paryanta)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Prahlāda exclaims about the kṣetra’s greatness: a luminous sacred circle around Dvārakā, where celestial observers see inhabitants with four arms like divine forms.

Characters & Entities

• Prahlāda
• Dvārakā-kṣetra (implied)
• Diviṣṭha (celestial beings)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A true tīrtha transforms perception and being—Dvārakā’s sanctity is so intense that even ordinary residents are seen as divinely formed.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dvārakā-kṣetra (Dvāravatī), described as a sacred zone spreading ten yojanas in all directions.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse functions as a stuti (praise) highlighting the kṣetra’s sanctifying power.