Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 24

Devanagari script

दुस्त्यजा भोगभोक्तृणां परं ज्ञानमजानताम् । संसारेऽत्र महाघोरे पुनरावृत्तिकारिणि

Transliteration

dustyajā bhogabhoktṛṇāṃ paraṃ jñānamajānatām | saṃsāre'tra mahāghore punarāvṛttikāriṇi

Translation

Für jene, die nur dem Genuss frönen und die höchste Erkenntnis nicht kennen, ist dieser furchtbare Saṃsāra schwer aufzugeben—denn immer wieder bewirkt er die erneute Rückkehr (Wiedergeburt).

Word by Word

• दुस्त्यजा: hard to give up
• दुस्त्यजा: Visheshana (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुस् + त्यज (कृदन्त; √त्यज् (धातु) + खल्/अनीयर्-भावे विशेषणरूप; प्रचलित-विशेषण)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘दुस्त्यज’ = त्यक्तुं दुष्करम् (hard to abandon)

• भोगभोक्तृणाम्: of the enjoyers of pleasures
• भोगभोक्तृणाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भोग + भोक्तृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन; ‘भोगभोक्तृ’ = भोगानां भोक्तारः (enjoyers of pleasures)

• परम्: supreme
• परम्: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन; ज्ञान-विशेषणम्

• ज्ञानम्: knowledge
• ज्ञानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्ञान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• अजानताम्: of those who do not know
• अजानताम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √ज्ञा (धातु) + शतृ (कृदन्त) ; नञ्-पूर्वक: अ-जानत्
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/सामान्य, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; वर्तमानकाले शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; ‘अजानत्’ = न जानन्ति ये (those who do not know)

• संसारे: in worldly existence
• संसारे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संसार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन

• अत्र: here
• अत्र: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of place)

• महाघोरे: very dreadful
• महाघोरे: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा + घोर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘महाघोर’ = महान् घोरः (very dreadful)

• पुनरावृत्तिकारिणि: causing repeated rebirth/return
• पुनरावृत्तिकारिणि: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पुनरावृत्ति + कारिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘पुनरावृत्तिकारिन्’ = पुनरावृत्तिं करोति इति (causing repeated return)

Speaker

Narrator (didactic reflection within the māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra (Prabhāsa region)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A contemplative speaker warns of the terrifying wheel of rebirth; behind him, a faint cyclical motif of births/deaths; in the distance, the sacred coastal landscape of Prabhāsa with pilgrims moving toward a shrine.

Characters & Entities

• saṃsāra
• para-jñāna (supreme knowledge)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Attachment to pleasure without higher wisdom keeps beings bound to frightening saṃsāra and repeated rebirth.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not a direct site-reference; it provides the ethical-philosophical backdrop for why tīrtha, vrata, and dharma matter in Vastrāpatha’s māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; it implies the need for jñāna and detachment as prerequisites for liberation-oriented practice.