Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 12

Devanagari script

समासक्तं यथा चित्तं जंतोर्विषयगोचरे । यद्येवं ब्रह्मणि न्यस्तं को न मुच्येत बंधनात्

Transliteration

samāsaktaṃ yathā cittaṃ jaṃtorviṣayagocare | yadyevaṃ brahmaṇi nyastaṃ ko na mucyeta baṃdhanāt

Translation

Wie der Geist eines Wesens sich heftig an den Bereich der Sinnesobjekte klammert—würde er in eben solcher Weise auf Brahman (das Höchste) gerichtet, wer bliebe dann unerlöst von der Fessel?

Word by Word

• समासक्तम्: attached
• समासक्तम्: Karta (Predicate/qualifier of citta)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम् + आसक्त (प्रातिपदिक; √सञ्ज्/सज्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (to ‘चित्तम्’); अर्थ: ‘attached’

• यथा: just as
• यथा: Comparison marker
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमान/प्रकारवाचक अव्यय (as/just as)

• चित्तम्: mind
• चित्तम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चित्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• जन्तोः: of a creature/person
• जन्तोः: Shashthi-sambandha (Possessor/Relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्तु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• विषयगोचरे: in the range of sense-objects
• विषयगोचरे: Adhikarana (Domain/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विषय (प्रातिपदिक) + गोचर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (विषयस्य गोचरः = range of objects); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• यदि: if
• यदि: Condition marker
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्तवाचक अव्यय (conditional ‘if’)

• एवम्: thus
• एवम्: Manner adverb
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रकारवाचक अव्यय (thus/in this way)

• ब्रह्मणि: in Brahman / in Brahmā
• ब्रह्मणि: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• न्यस्तम्: placed, fixed
• न्यस्तम्: Karta (Predicate participle/qualifier of citta)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि + अस्/न्यस् (धातु; √अस् ‘to place’ in causative sense via ‘न्यस्’)
• Form: क्त (Past Passive Participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘placed/laid’ (agreeing with ‘चित्तम्’)

• कः: who
• कः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक सर्वनाम

• न: not
• न: Negation (of verb)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय

• मुच्येत: would be freed
• मुच्येत: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि/भावे: ‘would be released’

• बन्धनात्: from bondage
• बन्धनात्: Apadana (Source/Separation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बन्धन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating to the sages (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A split composition: on one side the mind as a monkey grasping sense-objects; on the other, the same mind transformed into a steady lamp-flame before a radiant Brahman-symbol (jyoti/lotus), chains falling away.

Characters & Entities

• Citta (mind)
• Viṣaya (sense-objects)
• Brahman/Brahmā
• Bandhana (bondage)
• Mokṣa (liberation)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Redirect the same intensity used for worldly attachment toward the Divine; such one-pointedness becomes the path to liberation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is a doctrinal support within the Prabhāsa Brahmā-tīrtha context, encouraging inner worship alongside pilgrimage.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A mental discipline is prescribed: fixing the mind upon Brahman/Brahmā with the same steadfastness ordinarily given to sense-objects.