Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 12

Devanagari script

मासैश्चैवायनं षड्भिर्वर्षं स्यादयनद्वये । चत्वारिंशच्च लक्षाणि लक्षाणां त्रितयं पुनः

Transliteration

māsaiścaivāyanaṃ ṣaḍbhirvarṣaṃ syādayanadvaye | catvāriṃśacca lakṣāṇi lakṣāṇāṃ tritayaṃ punaḥ

Translation

With six months there is an ayana (half-year); with two ayanas a year comes to be. Then are spoken of forty lakṣas, and again three “lakṣas of lakṣas”.

Word by Word

• māsaiḥ: by months
• māsaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय-निपात (conjunction)

• eva: indeed
• eva: Sambandha (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण-निपात (emphasis)

• āyanam: an ayana (half-year)
• āyanam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āyana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन

• ṣaḍbhiḥ: by six
• ṣaḍbhiḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣaṭ (संख्याप्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे (मासैः—इत्यर्थे), तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन; संख्यावाचक

• varṣam: a year
• varṣam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन

• syāt: would be
• syāt: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• ayana-dvaye: in (the set of) two ayanas
• ayana-dvaye: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ayana (प्रातिपदिक) + dvaya (संख्याप्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (अयनयोः द्वयम्)

• catvāriṃśat: forty
• catvāriṃśat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: catvāriṃśat (संख्याप्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे (लक्षाणि-विशेषण), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), बहुवचन; संख्यावाचक

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय-निपात (conjunction)

• lakṣāṇi: lakhs (hundred-thousands)
• lakṣāṇi: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), बहुवचन

• lakṣāṇām: of lakhs
• lakṣāṇām: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन

• tritayam: a triad (threefold set)
• tritayam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tritaya (संख्याप्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; समूहवाचक

• punaḥ: again / further
• punaḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: punaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage instructs a listener at Prabhāsa, counting months into ayanas and years, with a cosmic backdrop of revolving sun and zodiac, suggesting the ladder from human calendars to vast enumerations.

Characters & Entities

• Ayana
• Varṣa
• Lakṣa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred time expands from human months to vast cosmic counts, reminding the devotee of dharma across scales.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Prabhāsa kṣetra Māhātmya provides the sacred frame for this chronology, tying cosmic order to the holy landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None stated; the verse is primarily calendrical/cosmological.