Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 84

Devanagari script

येषां कृष्णालये प्राणा गताः सुरपते कलौ । स्वर्गान्न तेषामावृत्तिः कल्पकोटिशतैरपि

Transliteration

yeṣāṃ kṛṣṇālaye prāṇā gatāḥ surapate kalau | svargānna teṣāmāvṛttiḥ kalpakoṭiśatairapi

Translation

O Lord of the gods, in the Kali age, for those whose life-breath departs in Kṛṣṇa’s abode, there is no return even from heaven—not even after hundreds of crores of kalpas.

Word by Word

• yeṣām: of whom
• yeṣām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन (Plural), सर्वनाम (Pronoun)

• kṛṣṇa-ālaye: in Kṛṣṇa’s abode/temple
• kṛṣṇa-ālaye: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛṣṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + ālaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन (Singular)

• prāṇāḥ: life-breaths; lives
• prāṇāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• gatāḥ: have gone; have departed
• gatāḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु) → gata (कृदन्त, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि/भूतकृत् (Past participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण ‘गताः’ = ‘have gone/ended’

• sura-pate: O lord of the gods
• sura-pate: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura (प्रातिपदिक) + pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन (Singular)

• kalau: in the Kali age
• kalau: Adhikarana (Time/काल-अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kali (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन (Singular)

• svargāt: from heaven
• svargāt: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन (Singular)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध (Negation particle)

• teṣām: of them
• teṣām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन (Plural), सर्वनाम (Pronoun)

• āvṛttiḥ: return; coming back
• āvṛttiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āvṛtti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• kalpa-koṭi-śataiḥ: by hundreds of crores of kalpas
• kalpa-koṭi-śataiḥ: Karana (Instrument/means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kalpa (प्रातिपदिक) + koṭi (प्रातिपदिक) + śata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन (Plural)

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय/अपि = ‘even/also’ (particle)

Speaker

Unknown (addressing Indra within the narrative)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kṛṣṇālaya (Dvārakā)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Surapati (Indra) is addressed

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A serene devotee at life’s end within Dvārakā’s sacred precinct; Kṛṣṇa’s presence as protective light; celestial beings appear but the soul moves beyond svarga toward non-return.

Characters & Entities

• Kṛṣṇa
• Indra (Surapati)
• Kali Yuga
• Svarga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The place of death matters in Purāṇic sacred geography: departing life in Kṛṣṇa’s abode is extolled as leading beyond cyclic return.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kṛṣṇālaya—understood in this section as Dvārakā / Kṛṣṇa’s sacred abode.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite; the teaching emphasizes the extraordinary salvific power of being in Kṛṣṇa’s abode at life’s end, especially in Kali Yuga.