Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 34

Devanagari script

उत्तरांशे समुद्रस्य क्षीरोदस्या मृतोदधेः । यः शेते शाश्वतं योगमास्थाय परवीरहा । स कथं त्यक्तवान्देहं प्रभासे परमेश्वरः

Transliteration

uttarāṃśe samudrasya kṣīrodasyā mṛtodadheḥ | yaḥ śete śāśvataṃ yogamāsthāya paravīrahā | sa kathaṃ tyaktavāndehaṃ prabhāse parameśvaraḥ

Translation

Er, der im nördlichen Bereich des Ozeans ruht—auf dem Milchozean, dem unsterblichen Meer—im ewigen Yoga gegründet, der Bezwinger feindlicher Helden: wie könnte der Höchste Herr in Prabhāsa seinen Leib verlassen?

Word by Word

• uttarāṃśe: in the northern part
• uttarāṃśe: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: uttara (प्रातिपदिक) + aṃśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी/कर्मधारय-प्रायः तत्पुरुषः (‘northern part’); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन

• samudrasya: of the ocean
• samudrasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: samudra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन

• kṣīrodasya: of the Milk-ocean
• kṣīrodasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣīroda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन

• amṛta-udadheḥ: of the nectar-ocean
• amṛta-udadheḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: amṛta (प्रातिपदिक) + udadhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘ocean of nectar’); पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध-प्रत्यय (relative pronoun)

• śete: lies/reclines
• śete: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śī (धातु; शयने)
• Form: लट्-लकार (present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• śāśvatam: eternal
• śāśvatam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śāśvata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying yogam)

• yogam: yoga/meditative absorption
• yogam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yoga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• āsthāya: having undertaken
• āsthāya: Purvakala (Absolutive/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√sthā (धातु; स्थितौ/आश्रये)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund), ‘having resorted to/undertaken’

• para-vīra-hā: slayer of enemy heroes
• para-vīra-hā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक) + vīra (प्रातिपदिक) + han (प्रातिपदिक; √han हिंसायाम्)
• Form: उपपद-तत्पुरुषः (‘slayer of enemy-heroes’); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषण-रूपेण (qualifying yaḥ/saḥ)

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• katham: how
• katham: Sambandha (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb)

• tyaktavān: having abandoned
• tyaktavān: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √tyaj (धातु; त्यागे)
• Form: क्तवतु-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्तरि — ‘having abandoned’

• deham: the body
• deham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• prabhāse: in Prabhāsa
• prabhāse: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन

• parameśvaraḥ: the Supreme Lord
• parameśvaraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक) + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारयः (‘supreme lord’); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

Speaker

Unspecified (same inquiry voice)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Sages/pilgrims (implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Nārāyaṇa reclining on Ananta in the Milk Ocean in the upper register; below, the Prabhāsa seashore with a quiet, fateful stillness—two oceans mirrored (cosmic and earthly), emphasizing eternal yoga and the mystery of ‘deha-tyāga’.

Characters & Entities

• Parameśvara (as epithet here)
• Kṣīroda (Milk Ocean)
• Prabhāsa-kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Lord’s eternal yogic repose contrasts with ‘leaving the body’ to emphasize that such events are līlā and that Prabhāsa is supremely sanctifying.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse functions as māhātmya-style exaltation.