Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 23

Devanagari script

माघे मासि सिते पक्षे सप्तम्यां संयतात्मवान् । दुर्वासार्कं च संपूज्य मुच्यते ब्रह्महत्यया

Transliteration

māghe māsi site pakṣe saptamyāṃ saṃyatātmavān | durvāsārkaṃ ca saṃpūjya mucyate brahmahatyayā

Translation

In the month of Māgha, in the bright fortnight, on the seventh lunar day, the self-restrained devotee who duly worships Durvāsārka (Durvāsā’s Sun) is released from the sin of brahma-hatyā, the gravest crime of slaying a brāhmaṇa.

Word by Word

• माघे: in (the month of) Māgha
• माघे: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माघ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन (Singular)

• मासि: in the month
• मासि: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन (Singular)

• सिते: bright (white)
• सिते: Adhikarana (Time-qualifier/अधिकरणविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन (Singular); पक्षे इति विशेषण

• पक्षे: in the fortnight
• पक्षे: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन (Singular)

• सप्तम्याम्: on the seventh (lunar day)
• सप्तम्याम्: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सप्तमी (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन (Singular) (तिथिवाचक)

• संयतात्मवान्: one whose self is restrained
• संयतात्मवान्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संयत (प्रातिपदिक) + आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + वत् (तद्धित)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन (Singular); बहुव्रीहि (संयतः आत्मा यस्य सः)

• दुर्वासार्कम्: Durvāsā and the Sun (Arka)
• दुर्वासार्कम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्वासा (प्रातिपदिक) + अर्क (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन (Singular); द्वन्द्व (दुर्वासा च अर्कश्च) (समाहार/एकवचन-प्रयोग)

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

• संपूज्य: having worshipped
• संपूज्य: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पूज् (धातु) + सम् (उपसर्ग)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (Absolutive/Gerund), अव्ययभाव

• मुच्यते: is freed
• मुच्यते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive)

• ब्रह्महत्यया: from/through (the sin of) brahmin-slaying
• ब्रह्महत्यया: Karana (Cause/Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + हत्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (ब्रह्मणः हत्या)

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced from Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa māhātmya narrative style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Durvāsārka (Durvāsāditya)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At dawn on Māgha śukla saptamī, a restrained devotee offers arghya to the rising Sun at the Durvāsārka shrine; a dark stain of sin symbolically dissolves into sunlight.

Characters & Entities

• Durvāsā
• Sūrya (Arka)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Disciplined devotion (saṃyama) combined with tīrtha-based worship of Sūrya is portrayed as a powerful purifier even for the gravest sins.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, specifically the sacred presence of Durvāsārka (Durvāsāditya).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Worship (pūjā) of Durvāsārka on Śukla Saptamī in the month of Māgha, undertaken with self-restraint.