Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 66

Devanagari script

वाराणसी प्रभासं च संगमं सितकृष्णयोः । एवं साराणि तीर्थानि यस्मान्मृत्युहराणि च

Transliteration

vārāṇasī prabhāsaṃ ca saṃgamaṃ sitakṛṣṇayoḥ | evaṃ sārāṇi tīrthāni yasmānmṛtyuharāṇi ca

Translation

Vārāṇasī, Prabhāsa und der Zusammenfluss des Weißen und des Schwarzen Flusses — dies sind die wesentlichen Tīrthas, denn sie nehmen den Tod hinweg (sie überwinden Furcht und Fessel der Sterblichkeit).

Word by Word

• vārāṇasī: Vārāṇasī
• vārāṇasī: Karta (Item in list/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vārāṇasī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तीर्थ-नाम

• prabhāsam: Prabhāsa
• prabhāsam: Karma (Item in list/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; तीर्थ-नाम (as object of implied 'mention')

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय/conjunction)

• saṃgamam: confluence
• saṃgamam: Karma (Item in list/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃgama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• sitakṛṣṇayoḥ: of Sita and Kṛṣṇa
• sitakṛṣṇayoḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sita + kṛṣṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), द्विवचन; द्वन्द्व-समास (सितश्च कृष्णश्च)

• evam: thus
• evam: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (प्रकारवाचक/adverb: thus)

• sārāṇi: excellent, essential
• sārāṇi: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; विशेषण

• tīrthāni: pilgrimage places
• tīrthāni: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• yasmāt: because/from which
• yasmāt: Hetu/Apadana (Cause/Source/हेतु-अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (relative), पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन; हेत्वर्थे (because/from which)

• mṛtyuharāṇi: removing death
• mṛtyuharāṇi: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mṛtyu + hara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (मृत्योः हराणि = death-removing)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय)

Speaker

Bhadra

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vārāṇasī; Prabhāsa; Śita-Kṛṣṇā-saṅgama

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Parapuraṃjaya (interlocutor)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sacred triad is evoked: Kāśī’s ghāṭas, Prabhāsa’s sea-adjacent sanctum, and a luminous confluence where two differently colored rivers meet—symbolizing the crossing beyond death.

Characters & Entities

• Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)
• Prabhāsa
• Saṅgama (confluence)
• Sita-Kṛṣṇā (rivers, as named here)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Certain tīrthas are called ‘essential’ because they orient the pilgrim toward liberation—freedom from the bondage symbolized as death.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa is explicitly praised alongside Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) and a revered river-confluence.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated here; the verse identifies the tīrthas’ liberating potency.