Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 87

Devanagari script

शूलिकोद्भिन्नमाकाशमिव कुर्वद्भिरुच्चकैः । एवमुक्ते प्रत्युवाच शारदा तं नगोत्तमम्

Transliteration

śūlikodbhinnamākāśamiva kurvadbhiruccakaiḥ | evamukte pratyuvāca śāradā taṃ nagottamam

Translation

Sie erhoben ein lautes Getöse, als würden sie mit Speeren den Himmel selbst durchbohren. Als dies gesprochen war, erwiderte Śāradā jenem erhabensten der Berge.

Word by Word

• śūlikodbhinnam: Pierced by the peaks/points
• śūlikodbhinnam: Visheshana (Qualifier to ākāśam)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śūlikodbhinna (शूलिका + उद्भिन्न)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• ākāśam: Sky
• ākāśam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ākāśa (आकाश)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• iva: As if
• iva: Upama (Simile)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iva
• Form: Particle

• kurvadbhiḥ: Making/Rendering
• kurvadbhiḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier to implied peaks)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṛ (कृ)
• Form: Present Participle (Shatri), Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• uccakaiḥ: High/Tall
• uccakaiḥ: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uccaka (उच्चक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• evam: Thus
• evam: Adverbial
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam
• Form: Adverb

• ukte: Having been said
• ukte: Bhavalakshana (Locative Absolute)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ukta (उक्त)
• Form: Past Participle, Neuter, Locative, Singular (Sati Saptami)

• pratyuvāca: Replied
• pratyuvāca: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (वच्) + prati (प्रति)
• Form: Perfect Tense (Lit), 3rd Person, Singular

• śāradā: Goddess Sharada
• śāradā: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śāradā (शारदा)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• tam: Him
• tam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद्)
• Form: Pronoun, Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• nagottamam: Best of mountains
• nagottamam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nagottama (नग + उत्तम)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narration; speaker not explicit in this snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A dramatic moment: a tumultuous cry rises like spears piercing the sky; then Śāradā, serene yet authoritative, answers the personified king of mountains.

Characters & Entities

• Śāradā
• Nagottama (a mountain/king of mountains)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine agency begins to unfold through dialogue—events in a tīrtha are guided by the Goddess for the protection and sanctification of the place.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra (the sacred Prabhāsa region, associated with the seashore and Purāṇic sanctity).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly in this verse; it sets the narrative context for subsequent actions connected with the tīrtha.