Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 2

Devanagari script

ईश्वर उवाच । अमा षोडशभेदेन देवि प्रोक्ता महाकला । संस्थिता परमा माया देहिनां देह धारिणी

Transliteration

īśvara uvāca | amā ṣoḍaśabhedena devi proktā mahākalā | saṃsthitā paramā māyā dehināṃ deha dhāriṇī

Translation

Īśvara said: O Devī, Amā is declared to be the Great Kalā, differentiated in sixteen ways. She abides as the supreme Māyā, upholding embodied beings by sustaining their very bodies.

Word by Word

• īśvaraḥ: Īśvara (the Lord)
• īśvaraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (Verbal predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: Liṭ-lakāra (Perfect), Prathama-puruṣa, Ekavacana, Parasmaipada

• amā: new-moon night (amāvāsyā)
• amā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: amā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana

• ṣoḍaśa-bhedena: by (its) sixteenfold division
• ṣoḍaśa-bhedena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ṣoḍaśa (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + bheda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa-samāsa (ṣoḍaśānāṃ bhedaḥ), Puṃliṅga, Tṛtīyā-vibhakti, Ekavacana

• devi: O देवी
• devi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Sambodhana-vibhakti, Ekavacana

• proktā: is declared
• proktā: Kriyā (Verbal predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु) + pra- (उपसर्ग) + -ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: Kṛdanta (Past Passive Participle/क्त), Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; predicative: 'is said/declared'

• mahākalā: the great digit/phase
• mahākalā: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (Apposition/समनाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + kalā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Karmadhāraya-samāsa (mahā ca sā kalā), Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; apposition to amā

• saṃsthitā: established/abiding
• saṃsthitā: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sthā (धातु) + sam- (उपसर्ग) + -ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: Kṛdanta (Past Passive Participle/क्त), Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; qualifies māyā

• paramā: supreme
• paramā: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; qualifies māyā

• māyā: māyā (illusion/power)
• māyā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana

• dehinām: of embodied beings
• dehinām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dehin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (generic), Ṣaṣṭhī-vibhakti, Bahuvacana

• deha: body
• deha: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deha (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Dvitīyā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; object of dhāriṇī (bearing)

• dhāriṇī: bearing/holding
• dhāriṇī: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dhṛ (धातु) + -in (इनि प्रत्यय)
• Form: Kṛdanta (Agent noun/adjectival -in), Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; qualifies māyā

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Īśvara answers Devī: Amā is Mahā-kalā, sixteenfold, abiding as supreme Māyā that upholds embodied beings and their bodies.

Characters & Entities

• Īśvara
• Devī
• Amā
• Mahākalā
• Māyā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Time (kalā) is not merely measurement; it is the divine power (Māyā) by which embodied life is sustained and ordered.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching occurs within the Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya, framing Prabhāsa as a sacred landscape where cosmic principles like time are revealed.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is prescribed here; the verse establishes the theology of tithis/kalās as divine power.