Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि गुफेश्वरमनुत्तमम् । हिरण्या उत्तरे भागे सर्वपातकनाशनम् । तं दृष्ट्वा मानवो देवि कोटिहत्यां व्यपोहति

Transliteration

īśvara uvāca | tato gacchenmahādevi gupheśvaramanuttamam | hiraṇyā uttare bhāge sarvapātakanāśanam | taṃ dṛṣṭvā mānavo devi koṭihatyāṃ vyapohati

Translation

Īśvara sprach: „Dann, o große Göttin, soll man zum unvergleichlichen Gupheśvara gehen. Im nördlichen Teil von Hiraṇyā vernichtet er alle Sünden. Wer ihn erblickt, o Göttin, wirft selbst die Schuld von ‚einem koṭi an Tötungen‘ von sich ab.“

Word by Word

• īśvaraḥ: Īśvara
• īśvaraḥ: Karta (Speaker/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद — Perfect, 3rd person, Singular, Parasmaipada

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, क्रम/हेतुवाचक — Indeclinable, adverb (then/from there)

• gacchet: should go
• gacchet: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद — Optative, 3rd person, Singular, Parasmaipada

• mahādevi: O great goddess
• mahādevi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahādevī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास, स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Karmadharaya; Feminine, Vocative, Singular

• gupheśvaram: Gupheśvara (Lord of the cave)
• gupheśvaram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: guphā (प्रातिपदिक) + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Genitive-tatpurusha; Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• anuttamam: unsurpassed, excellent
• anuttamam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anuttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• hiraṇyā: at Hiraṇyā (place)
• hiraṇyā: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hiraṇyā (प्रातिपदिक; स्थाननाम)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Feminine, Locative, Singular

• uttare: in the northern
• uttare: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uttara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Masculine, Locative, Singular

• bhāge: part, region
• bhāge: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Masculine, Locative, Singular

• sarva-pātaka-nāśanam: destroyer of all sins
• sarva-pātaka-nāśanam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + pātaka (प्रातिपदिक) + nāśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुपद-तत्पुरुष-समास, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Multi-member tatpurusha; Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• tam: him/that (deity)
• tam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Pronoun; Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• dṛṣṭvā: having seen
• dṛṣṭvā: Pūrvakāla (Prior action)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: dṛś (धातु) → dṛṣṭvā (क्त्वा)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (absolutive/gerund) — Indeclinable gerund

• mānavaḥ: a man
• mānavaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mānava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• devi: O goddess
• devi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Feminine, Vocative, Singular

• koṭi-hatyām: a crore of killings (sin)
• koṭi-hatyām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: koṭi (प्रातिपदिक) + hatyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी/कर्मधारयार्थ: ‘कोट्याः हत्याः’), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Tatpurusha; Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• vyapohati: removes, dispels
• vyapohati: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-apa-uh (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद — Present, 3rd person, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gupheśvara

Type: cave

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahādevī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva (Īśvara) instructs Devī about a cave-shrine (guhā) called Gupheśvara near the Hiraṇyā area; pilgrims approach a liṅga within a rocky grotto, lamps flickering, the sea-wind implied by coastal Prabhāsa.

Characters & Entities

• Gupheśvara
• Hiraṇyā
• Mahādevī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred darśana at a praised Śiva-site is presented as a potent purifier, capable of erasing even the gravest karmic burdens.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gupheśvara, located in the northern part of Hiraṇyā within the Prabhāsa sacred region.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The instruction is pilgrimage and darśana—going to and seeing Gupheśvara.