Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

कालात्पराय कालाय स्वेच्छया पुरुषाय च । गुणत्रयस्वरूपाय नमः प्रकृतिरूपिणे

Transliteration

kālātparāya kālāya svecchayā puruṣāya ca | guṇatrayasvarūpāya namaḥ prakṛtirūpiṇe

Translation

Salutations to Him who is Time yet beyond Time; to that Person who acts by His own free will; to Him whose nature is the three guṇas, and who also appears as Prakṛti itself.

Word by Word

• kālātparāya: to the one beyond time
• kālātparāya: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kāla (काल प्रातिपदिक) + atpara (अत्पर/अत्यन्तपर प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/सम्प्रदान), एकवचन; पञ्चमी-तत्पुरुषः (कालात् परः)

• kālāya: to Time
• kālāya: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (काल प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/सम्प्रदान), एकवचन

• svecchayā: by (his) own will
• svecchayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva (स्व प्रातिपदिक) + icchā (इच्छा प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (स्वस्य इच्छा)

• puruṣāya: to the Person (Puruṣa)
• puruṣāya: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puruṣa (पुरुष प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/सम्प्रदान), एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• guṇatrayasvarūpāya: to the embodiment of the three guṇas
• guṇatrayasvarūpāya: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: guṇa (गुण) + traya (त्रय) + svarūpa (स्वरूप)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/सम्प्रदान), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (गुणत्रयस्य स्वरूपम्)

• namaḥ: salutation
• namaḥ: Sambandha (Salutation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: namas (नमस् प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; नमस्कारार्थक-प्रयोगः

• prakṛtirūpiṇe: to the one whose form is Prakṛti
• prakṛtirūpiṇe: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prakṛti (प्रकृति प्रातिपदिक) + rūpin (रूपिन् प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/सम्प्रदान), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (प्रकृतेः रूपी)

Speaker

Unspecified (Devotional eulogy within Dharmāraṇya narrative; likely a sage or narrator-voice)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic wheel of time encircling a serene central consciousness; guṇas depicted as three colored streams (white/red/black) emerging from and returning to the same source; Prakṛti as a veiling, translucent mantle.

Characters & Entities

• Kāla (Time)
• Puruṣa
• Guṇas (Sattva-Rajas-Tamas)
• Prakṛti

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Supreme both transcends the cosmos and pervades it as its governing Time, conscious Personhood, and the manifesting power of Prakṛti and the guṇas.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is theological rather than geographical; it supports the Mahātmya tone of Dharmāraṇya by identifying the deity praised as cosmic source.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the practice implied is stuti and reflective contemplation on the Lord’s cosmic immanence and transcendence.