Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

अद्यापि संशयो नाथ तीर्थमाहात्म्यसंभवः । अन्यत्कौतूहलं देव कथयस्व महेश्वर

Transliteration

adyāpi saṃśayo nātha tīrthamāhātmyasaṃbhavaḥ | anyatkautūhalaṃ deva kathayasva maheśvara

Translation

Noch immer, o Herr, bleibt ein Zweifel—entsprungen aus den Lehren über die Größe der heiligen Stätten (tīrtha). Und noch eine weitere Frage habe ich, o Gott: erkläre sie, o Maheśvara.

Word by Word

• adya: today/now
• adya: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal adverb)

• api: still, even
• api: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle); ‘अपि’ = also/even/still

• saṃśayaḥ: doubt
• saṃśayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃśaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (masculine nominative singular)

• nātha: O protector/lord
• nātha: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nātha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• tīrthamāhātmyasaṃbhavaḥ: arising from the greatness of the sacred ford
• tīrthamāhātmyasaṃbhavaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tīrtha + māhātmya + saṃbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘saṃśayaḥ’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम् (doubt arising from...)

• anyat: another
• anyat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘kautūhalam’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• kautūhalam: curiosity, question
• kautūhalam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kautūhala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (neuter accusative singular)

• deva: O god
• deva: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• kathayasva: please narrate/tell
• kathayasva: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kathaya (णिजन्त from kath) (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• maheśvara: O Great Lord
• maheśvara: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

Speaker

Devī (Pārvatī)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee (Mahādevī/Umā as listener) bows with folded hands, voicing doubt and curiosity before Maheśvara seated in calm majesty, beginning a sacred discourse set against the coastal sanctity of Prabhāsa.

Characters & Entities

• Devī (Pārvatī)
• Maheśvara (Śiva)
• Tīrtha-māhātmya (topic)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Doubt is not condemned; it is refined through respectful questioning, leading to clearer understanding of dharma and tīrtha-meaning.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The immediate frame is Prabhāsa-kṣetra māhātmya, though the verse also gestures to tīrthas in general as a doctrinal theme.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the ‘prescription’ is pedagogical—ask, clarify, and then practice with conviction.