Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

सूर्यस्य प्रतिमां रम्यां सर्वदारिद्र्यनाशिनीम् । तुष्टाव विविधैः स्तोत्रैरादित्यं तिमिरापहम्

Transliteration

sūryasya pratimāṃ ramyāṃ sarvadāridryanāśinīm | tuṣṭāva vividhaiḥ stotrairādityaṃ timirāpaham

Translation

Er pries das liebliche Bild Sūryas, das alle Armut vernichtet, und verherrlichte Āditya, den Vertreiber der Finsternis, mit vielen Hymnen.

Word by Word

• सूर्यस्य: of the Sun
• सूर्यस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूर्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन (Singular), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine)

• प्रतिमाम्: image/idol
• प्रतिमाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रतिमा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular), स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine)

• रम्याम्: beautiful
• रम्याम्: Visheshana (Adjectival)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रम्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular), स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine); प्रतिमां विशेषयति

• सर्वदारिद्र्यनाशिनीम्: destroyer of all poverty
• सर्वदारिद्र्यनाशिनीम्: Visheshana (Adjectival)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक) + दारिद्र्य (प्रातिपदिक) + नाशिनी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular), स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine); ‘सर्वस्य दारिद्र्यस्य नाशिनी’

• तुष्टाव: praised
• तुष्टाव: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √स्तु (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect/लिट्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद

• विविधैः: with various
• विविधैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन (Plural), नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग (agreeing with स्तोत्रैः)

• स्तोत्रैः: hymns
• स्तोत्रैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्तोत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन (Plural), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter)

• आदित्यम्: Āditya (the Sun)
• आदित्यम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आदित्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine)

• तिमिरापहम्: remover of darkness
• तिमिरापहम्: Visheshana (Adjectival)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तिमिर (प्रातिपदिक) + अपह (प्रातिपदिक; from apa-√हृ (धातु) ‘removing’)
• Form: द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine); आदित्यं विशेषयति; ‘तिमिरम् अपहः’

Speaker

Unspecified narrator

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ṛṣitoyā-tīra Sūrya-upāsanā (within Prabhāsa)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Nārada stands or sits before a radiant Sūrya image, halo blazing like the dawn, offering hymns; the river glitters, darkness recedes, symbols of prosperity appear (grain, coins, lotus).

Characters & Entities

• Sūrya
• Āditya
• Nārada

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotional praise (stotra) offered with focus can transform suffering; Sūrya symbolizes illumination that removes inner and outer darkness.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The worship occurs in the Prabhāsakṣetra setting, with the chapter’s geography supporting Sūrya-upāsanā as a sacred practice there.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Stotra-pāṭha (hymn-recitation) in praise of Sūrya/Āditya before an installed image is indicated.