Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

वाक्प्रपंचादिरहितं निष्प्रपञ्चात्मकं शिवम् । ज्ञानज्ञेयावलोकस्थं हेत्वाभासविवर्जितम्

Transliteration

vākprapaṃcādirahitaṃ niṣprapañcātmakaṃ śivam | jñānajñeyāvalokasthaṃ hetvābhāsavivarjitam

Translation

Śiva ist frei von der Ausbreitung der Rede und von allem Schaustellen; Sein eigenes Wesen ist jenseits der Vielheit. Als Schauender von Wissen und Gewusstem verweilend, ist Er selbst vom bloßen Schein kausaler Begrenzung frei.

Word by Word

• वाक्-प्रपञ्च-आदि-रहितम्: devoid of speech, proliferation, and the like
• वाक्-प्रपञ्च-आदि-रहितम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वाक् (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रपञ्च (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक) + रहित (कृदन्त; √हा धातु, क्त; उपसर्ग वि/र?)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त — Neuter, Accusative Singular (qualifying शिवम्)

• निः-प्रपञ्च-आत्मकम्: whose nature is free from phenomenal expansion
• निः-प्रपञ्च-आत्मकम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निः (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + प्रपञ्च (प्रातिपदिक) + आत्मक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन — Neuter, Accusative Singular

• शिवम्: Śiva
• शिवम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन — Masculine, Accusative Singular

• ज्ञान-ज्ञेय-अवलोक-स्थम्: abiding in the vision of knowledge and the knowable
• ज्ञान-ज्ञेय-अवलोक-स्थम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्ञान (प्रातिपदिक) + ज्ञेय (कृदन्त; √ज्ञा धातु, यत्) + अवलोक (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थ (कृदन्त; √स्था धातु)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन; कृदन्त-विशेषण — Neuter, Accusative Singular

• हेतु-आभास-विवर्जितम्: free from the semblance of causality
• हेतु-आभास-विवर्जितम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हेतु (प्रातिपदिक) + आभास (प्रातिपदिक) + विवर्जित (कृदन्त; √वृज्/√वर्ज् धातु, क्त; उपसर्ग वि)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त — Neuter, Accusative Singular

Speaker

Deductive (Prabhāsa-māhātmya context): narrator/teacher figure

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa (Somnātha)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A quiet sanctum: the Liṅga in half-light; the devotee’s lips closed in mauna; floating script-like glyphs dissolve into blank radiance, indicating speech falling away into the seer.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Prabhāsa (context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The supreme Śiva is beyond verbal complexity and worldly multiplicity, realized as the witnessing awareness behind knower, knowing, and known.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa kṣetra by the continuous Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the teaching supports silence, inquiry, and contemplative recognition of the witness.