Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 38

Devanagari script

भार्या भगिनी दुहिता स्वकर्मफलयोजनात् । जाता तेनैव संसारे रतिकार्ये जुगुप्सिता

Transliteration

bhāryā bhaginī duhitā svakarmaphalayojanāt | jātā tenaiva saṃsāre ratikārye jugupsitā

Translation

Through the binding of one’s own karmic results, in this very cycle of saṃsāra the same being becomes wife, sister, or daughter—an entanglement that is shameful when pursued for mere sensual ends.

Word by Word

• भार्या: wife
• भार्या: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भार्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• भगिनी: sister
• भगिनी: Karta (Appositional subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भगिनी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• दुहिता: daughter
• दुहिता: Karta (Appositional subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुहितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• स्वकर्मफलयोजनात्: from the arrangement/dispensation of one’s own karma-fruit
• स्वकर्मफलयोजनात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व + कर्म + फल + योजन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (स्वकर्मणः फलम्; तस्य योजनम्/योजना; तस्मात्)

• जाता: born (as)
• जाता: Viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जन् (धातु) → जात (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• तेन: by that, therefore
• तेन: Karaṇa/Hetu (Instrumental-causal/करण-हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; ‘by that/therefore’

• एव: indeed
• एव: Sambandha/Emphasis (Avadhāraṇa/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारणार्थक निपात

• संसारे: in worldly existence
• संसारे: Adhikaraṇa (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संसार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• रतिकार्ये: in the act/affair of sexual pleasure
• रतिकार्ये: Adhikaraṇa (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रति + कार्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (रतेः कार्यम्)

• जुगुप्सिता: detested, loathsome
• जुगुप्सिता: Viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गुप्स्/गुप् (धातु) → जुगुप्सित (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

Speaker

Dadhīci

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa Kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage audience within the māhātmya frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A rishi points to a symbolic wheel of births where figures shift roles—wife, sister, daughter—while a darkened aura of kāma is shown as a binding chain; the mood is one of moral revulsion and awakening.

Characters & Entities

• Dadhīci
• Karma-phala
• Saṃsāra
• Rati (sensual pleasure)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Karmic bondage can recycle relationships across births; therefore, desire-driven attachment should be purified by dharma and detachment.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra, where narratives are used to awaken dispassion and dharmic clarity.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual; it is an ethical admonition to restrain rati (sensuality) and seek higher purpose.