Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 108

Devanagari script

सर्वे वृषसमारूढाः सभा र्याश्चातिभीषणाः । समाश्रित्य गणश्रेष्ठं ययुर्दक्षमखं प्रति

Transliteration

sarve vṛṣasamārūḍhāḥ sabhā ryāścātibhīṣaṇāḥ | samāśritya gaṇaśreṣṭhaṃ yayurdakṣamakhaṃ prati

Translation

Alle, auf Stieren reitend und furchterregend—zusammen mit ihren Gemahlinnen—suchten Schutz hinter dem Vornehmsten der Gaṇas und zogen zum Opfer Dakṣas.

Word by Word

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्; सर्वनामसदृश-विशेषणप्रयोगः

• वृषसमारूढाः: mounted on bulls
• वृषसमारूढाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वृष (प्रातिपदिक) + सम्-आ-रुह् (धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त ‘समारूढ’ (mounted); तत्पुरुषार्थे ‘वृषे समारूढाः’

• सभार्याः: together with (their) wives
• सभार्याः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स (अव्यय/उपसर्गार्थ ‘with’) + भार्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्; बहुव्रीहिः ‘सभार्यः’ = ‘having wives/with their wives’

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्ययम्

• अतिभीषणाः: very dreadful
• अतिभीषणाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अति (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + भीषण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्; ‘very terrible’

• समाश्रित्य: having approached/taken refuge in
• समाश्रित्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-श्रि (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभावः; ‘having resorted to/approached’

• गणश्रेष्ठम्: the best of the gaṇas
• गणश्रेष्ठम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गण (प्रातिपदिक) + श्रेष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः ‘गणानां श्रेष्ठः’

• ययुः: went
• ययुः: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकारः (परोक्षभूत/Perfect), प्रथमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्, परस्मैपदम्

• दक्षमखम्: Dakṣa’s sacrifice
• दक्षमखम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + मख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः ‘दक्षस्य मखः’

• प्रति: towards
• प्रति: Sambandha (Directional/दिशा)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्रति (अव्यय)
• Form: उपसर्गसदृश-अव्ययम्; गत्यर्थे ‘towards’

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration; likely Sūta tradition)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A fearsome host of attendants, each mounted on bulls, accompanied by their consorts, forms a disciplined column behind the chief gaṇa and advances toward Dakṣa’s sacrificial arena.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṇas
• Dakṣa
• Yajña

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

In Purāṇic dharma, divine order is upheld through Śiva’s gaṇas when yajña is performed without honoring the Lord.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vastrāpatha-kṣetra in the Prabhāsa region is the teaching-setting, with the Dakṣa-yajña episode used to magnify the sanctity and Śaiva supremacy.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is prescribed; the verse situates the movement toward the yajña.