Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 5

Devanagari script

प्रहस्तं प्रेषयामास किमिदं व्रज मेदिनीम् । अहताऽस्य गतिर्यस्मात्त्रैलोक्ये सचराचरे

Transliteration

prahastaṃ preṣayāmāsa kimidaṃ vraja medinīm | ahatā'sya gatiryasmāttrailokye sacarācare

Translation

Er sandte Prahasta aus und sprach: „Was ist dies? Steig hinab zur Erde und erkunde es.“ Denn sein Lauf war niemals zuvor irgendwo in den drei Welten, bei allem Beweglichen und Unbeweglichen, aufgehalten worden.

Word by Word

• prahastam: Prahasta
• prahastam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prahasta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्गः, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचनम्

• preṣayāmāsa: sent / dispatched
• preṣayāmāsa: Kriyā (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: preṣ (धातु, प्रेरणे)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्शभूत/परिपूर्णभूत), प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्, परस्मैपदम्; णिच्-प्रयोग (causative sense)

• kim: what
• kim: Karma (Interrogative object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनम् (प्रश्नार्थक)

• idam: this
• idam: Viśeṣaṇa (Deictic qualifier)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनम् (समीपवाचक)

• vraja: go
• vraja: Kriyā (Imperative)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vraj (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्, परस्मैपदम्

• medinīm: to the earth / ground
• medinīm: Karma (Goal/object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: medinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गः, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचनम्

• ahatā: unharmed / unimpeded
• ahatā: Hetu (Cause qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: han (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (नञ्-पूर्वक क्त-प्रत्यय: ‘अहत’ = ‘अनाहत’), नपुंसकलिङ्गः, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनम् (अव्ययवत्/विशेषण)

• asya: of it / of him
• asya: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्गः, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचनम्

• gatiḥ: movement / course
• gatiḥ: Kartā (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचनम्

• yasmāt: because / from which
• yasmāt: Hetu/Apādāna (Reason/from which)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्गः, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचनम् (यत्-सम्बन्ध)

• trailokye: in the three worlds
• trailokye: Adhikaraṇa (Location/sphere)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tri (संख्या) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्विगु-समासः (‘त्रयः लोकाः’); नपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचनम्

• sa-carācare: with the moving and the unmoving
• sa-carācare: Adhikaraṇa-viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier of location)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sa (उपसर्ग/सह) + cara (प्रातिपदिक) + acara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः (‘चर’ + ‘अचर’), ‘स’ उपपदेन ‘सहित’ अर्थः; नपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी, एकवचनम् (trailokye इति विशेषणम्)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration within Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Rāvaṇeśvara / Prabhāsa-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahādevī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Rāvaṇa, astonished and irritated, orders Prahasta to descend; Prahasta leaps or rides downward through clouds toward the glowing earth below; the halted Puṣpaka hangs overhead.

Characters & Entities

• Rāvaṇa
• Prahasta
• Trailokya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pride in unchecked power is humbled when one encounters a divinely protected sacred landscape.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa Kṣetra, implicitly shown as a realm where ordinary cosmic rules are suspended by Śiva’s presence.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a narrative instruction to investigate the cause of a miraculous stoppage.