Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 105

Devanagari script

सर्वे ते क्रूरवदना जिह्वाज्वालाकृशोदराः । पाणिपात्राः पिशाचास्ते निसृष्टबलिभोजनाः

Transliteration

sarve te krūravadanā jihvājvālākṛśodarāḥ | pāṇipātrāḥ piśācāste nisṛṣṭabalibhojanāḥ

Translation

Sie alle hatten grimmige Gesichter, Zungen wie Flammen und ausgemergelte Bäuche. Jene Piśācas benutzten ihre Hände als Schalen und lebten von den dargebrachten Opfergaben (bali).

Word by Word

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• ते: they/those
• ते: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; सर्वनाम (pronoun)

• क्रूरवदनाः: cruel-faced
• क्रूरवदनाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रूर + वदन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; विशेषण (adjective)

• जिह्वाज्वालाकृशोदराः: with tongues like flames and thin bellies
• जिह्वाज्वालाकृशोदराः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जिह्वा + ज्वाला + कृश + उदर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; बहुपद-समास, विशेषण

• पाणिपात्राः: having hands as bowls / hand-bowled
• पाणिपात्राः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाणि + पात्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; विशेषण

• पिशाचाः: piśācas (ghouls)
• पिशाचाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिशाच (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• ते: those/they
• ते: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• निसृष्टबलिभोजनाः: eaters of offered sacrifices
• निसृष्टबलिभोजनाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निसृष्ट + बलि + भोजन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; (निसृष्ट-बलि)-भोजन = तदर्थ-सम्बन्धः, विशेषण

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) speaking to the sages (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Bhūtamātṛ-associated bali practice (Prabhāsa)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A terrifying host of piśācas: flame-like tongues, hollow bellies, fierce faces, using cupped hands as bowls, gathering around ritual bali offerings set at night.

Characters & Entities

• Piśācas
• Bali

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ritual offerings (bali) function as regulated exchange—channeling disruptive forces into ordered, bounded forms.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra, where such spirit-related narratives support the site’s ritual ecology in the māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implied practice of setting out bali offerings, understood as the sanctioned sustenance for such beings.