Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 72

Devanagari script

आह बालक उत्पन्नः शोकस्य वद कारणम् । अथोक्तः स्तन्यरहितं कथं ते जीवितं धृतम्

Transliteration

āha bālaka utpannaḥ śokasya vada kāraṇam | athoktaḥ stanyarahitaṃ kathaṃ te jīvitaṃ dhṛtam

Translation

Sie sprach: „O Kind, da du nun geboren bist, sage mir den Grund deines Kummers.“ Dann fragte sie: „Ohne Muttermilch – wie wurde dein Leben erhalten?“

Word by Word

• आह: she said
• आह: Kriya (Main action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अह् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्

• बालक: O child
• बालक: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बालक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचनम्

• उत्पन्नः: born
• उत्पन्नः: Sambodhana (Address qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उत्-पद् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्तः (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (to बालक)

• शोकस्य: of sorrow
• शोकस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शोक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, षष्ठी, एकवचनम् (genitive singular)

• वद: tell
• वद: Kriya (Command/आज्ञा)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वद् (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुषः (2nd person), एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्

• कारणम्: cause, reason
• कारणम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कारण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, द्वितीया, एकवचनम् (accusative singular)

• अथ: then
• अथ: Sambandha (Discourse connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; अनुक्रम/आरम्भसूचकः (then/now)

• उक्तः: (he) being asked/said to
• उक्तः: Karta (Subject of implied ‘was asked’)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्तः (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्; ‘having been spoken/asked’ (elliptic: ‘he was addressed/asked’)

• स्तन्यरहितम्: devoid of milk (nursing)
• स्तन्यरहितम्: Karma (Object qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्तन्य-रहित (प्रातिपदिक; स्तन्य + रहित)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (to जीवितम्)

• कथम्: how
• कथम्: Kriya-viseshana (Interrogative adverb)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; प्रश्नार्थक-क्रियाविशेषणम् (how)

• ते: your
• ते: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्वद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (genitive) एकवचनम् (or चतुर्थी singular in some contexts); अत्र षष्ठी—‘thy/your’

• जीवितम्: life
• जीवितम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जीवित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनम्; अत्र द्वितीया (object of धृतम्—‘held/maintained’)

• धृतम्: sustained, maintained
• धृतम्: Kriya (Predicate participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: धृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्तः (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनम्; अत्र ‘धृतम्’ = ‘sustained/maintained’ (with जीवितम्)

Speaker

Subhadrā

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Frame-audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Subhadrā, holding the child, gently questions him: why the sorrow, and how he survived without mother’s milk—an intimate inquiry into suffering and providence.

Characters & Entities

• Subhadrā
• Prabhāsakṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Compassionate inquiry is dharmic: one seeks the root of suffering and the means by which life is sustained.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra, where the māhātmya uses human questions to unfold sacred meaning and divine arrangement.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is interpersonal dialogue within the sacred narrative.