Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 33

Devanagari script

तमुवाच ततः शक्रो दधीचिं तपसोनिधिम् । प्राणहारं प्रकर्तुं ते नाहं शक्तो यमिच्छसि

Transliteration

tamuvāca tataḥ śakro dadhīciṃ tapasonidhim | prāṇahāraṃ prakartuṃ te nāhaṃ śakto yamicchasi

Translation

Then Śakra (Indra) spoke to Dadhīci, that treasury of austerity: “I am not able to take away your life, as you wish me to do.”

Word by Word

• tam: him
• tam: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vac (धातु: वच् ‘to speak’)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: ‘then/thereupon’)

• śakraḥ: Śakra (Indra)
• śakraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śakra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• dadhīcim: Dadhīci
• dadhīcim: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dadhīci (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• tapasaḥ: of austerity
• tapasaḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tapas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; समासपूर्वपद (in compound)

• nidhim: treasure (store)
• nidhim: Karman (Appositional object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nidhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: tapasaḥ+nidhiḥ

• prāṇa: of life-breaths
• prāṇa: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; समासपूर्वपद (in compound)

• hāram: taking away (killing)
• hāram: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: prāṇānām+hāraḥ (‘taking away of life’)

• prakartum: to do
• prakartum: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√kṛ (धातु: कृ ‘to do’)
• Form: तुमुन्-अन्त (infinitive), ‘to do’

• te: for you
• te: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: चतुर्थी (4th/Dative), एकवचन; मध्यमपुरुष-सर्वनाम

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

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम

• śaktaḥ: able
• śaktaḥ: Visheshana (Subject complement/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śakta (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त-प्राय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण (to ‘aham’)

• yam: which
• yam: Karman (Object of ‘icchasi’/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative pronoun)

• icchasi: you desire
• icchasi: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √iṣ (धातु: इष्/इच्छ् ‘to desire’)
• Form: लट् (Present), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Śakra (Indra)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrims/devotees within the kathā-listening frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Indra, humbled, addresses Dadhīci with folded hands, confessing inability to take the sage’s life despite the request; Dadhīci remains tranquil, embodying tapas.

Characters & Entities

• Śakra (Indra)
• Dadhīci

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even the gods honor the autonomy of a realized sage; true sacrifice must arise from one’s own resolve (svacchanda-tyāga).

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra (Prabhāsa), praised in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa as a sacred landscape where dharma-stories are remembered and recited.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is prescribed; the verse frames a dharmic principle about non-violence and voluntary renunciation.