Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 62

Devanagari script

अस्त्रं दिशासु विन्यस्य स्वबीजेन तु कर्णिकाम् । अमोसि प्राणितेनेति अनेन हृदयं यजेत्

Transliteration

astraṃ diśāsu vinyasya svabījena tu karṇikām | amosi prāṇiteneti anena hṛdayaṃ yajet

Translation

Nachdem man das „Astra“ (astra, schützendes Waffen-Mantra) den Himmelsrichtungen zugewiesen und die „Karṇikā“ (karṇikā, den zentralen Kern) mit dem eigenen bīja (svabīja) gesetzt hat, verehre man das „Herz“ mit der Formel: „am asi, prāṇitena“ — durch den Lebenshauch.

Word by Word

• अस्त्रम्: weapon (astra)
• अस्त्रम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन

• दिशासु: in the directions
• दिशासु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिश् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (अधिकरण), बहुवचन

• विन्यस्य: having placed
• विन्यस्य: Kriya (Gerundial action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-नि-√अस् (धातु; न्यासे)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (gerund), ‘having placed/arranged’

• स्वबीजेन: with (one’s) own seed-mantra
• स्वबीजेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व + बीज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (करण), एकवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (स्वस्य बीजम्)

• तु: indeed/then
• तु: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic/contrastive particle)

• कर्णिकाम्: the pericarp/central whorl
• कर्णिकाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्णिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन

• अमोसि: you are / you pervade (mantric utterance)
• अमोसि: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अम् (धातु; अम् गतौ/व्याप्तौ)
• Form: लट्-लकार (वर्तमान), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; पदम्—परस्मैपद

• प्राणितेन: by the breath / by what is breathed
• प्राणितेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणित (प्रातिपदिक; √अन्/प्राण् + क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (करण), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle used substantively)

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Quotation marker/इति)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरण-समाप्ति-निपात (quotative particle)

• अनेन: with this (mantra)
• अनेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (करण), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• हृदयम्: the heart (hṛdaya)
• हृदयम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हृदय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन

• यजेत्: should worship
• यजेत्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √यज् (धातु; देवपूजासङ्गतिकरणदानेषु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa māhātmya narrative style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A lotus-yantra with a bright central karṇikā; astra symbols ring the directions like a protective fence; the worshipper offers to the heart-center while controlling breath, as if the mandala ‘breathes’.

Characters & Entities

• Astra (mantra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Protection and presence are established together: the astra guards the quarters while the bīja vivifies the center for heartfelt worship.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra, framed as a place where mantra-nyāsa and disciplined worship yield heightened merit.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Placing astra in the directions, bīja in the karṇikā (center), and worshipping the hṛdaya with the cited mantra-phrase.