Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

हव्यादान्यः सुरांश्चक्रे कव्यादांश्च पितॄ नपि । स कथं देवदेवेशः प्रभासं क्षेत्रमाश्रितः

Transliteration

havyādānyaḥ surāṃścakre kavyādāṃśca pitṝ napi | sa kathaṃ devadeveśaḥ prabhāsaṃ kṣetramāśritaḥ

Translation

He who appointed the gods as receivers of havya (sacrificial offerings) and the Fathers (pitṛs) as receivers of kavya—how could that Lord of gods take refuge in the sacred field of Prabhāsa?

Word by Word

• havya-ādānyaḥ: receiver of sacrificial offerings
• havya-ādānyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: havya (प्रातिपदिक) + ādānya (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक; ā-√dā दाने/ग्रहणे)
• Form: तत्पुरुषः (‘receiver of havya/oblations’); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषण-रूपेण (qualifying saḥ)

• surān: the gods
• surān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक निपात (conjunction)

• cakre: made/created
• cakre: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु; करणे)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• kavya-ādān: receivers of ancestral offerings
• kavya-ādān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kavya (प्रातिपदिक) + ādāna (प्रातिपदिक; ā-√dā)
• Form: तत्पुरुषः (‘kavya-receivers’, i.e., those who take offerings to Pitṛs); पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक निपात (conjunction)

• pitṝn: the Pitṛs (ancestors)
• pitṝn: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक निपात (negative particle)

• api: even/also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle) — अपि ‘also/even’; here with na = ‘not even’

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• katham: how
• katham: Sambandha (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb)

• deva-deva-īśaḥ: Lord of the gods
• deva-deva-īśaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक) + deva (प्रातिपदिक) + īśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘lord of gods’); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• prabhāsam: Prabhāsa
• prabhāsam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• kṣetram: the sacred field
• kṣetram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• āśritaḥ: has resorted to
• āśritaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√śri (धातु; आश्रये)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्तरि-प्रयोगे ‘having resorted to’

Speaker

Unspecified (same inquiry voice)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (typical frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A contemplative sage poses a rhetorical question before the sea-washed Prabhāsa field: how can the Lord who fixed havya for devas and kavya for pitṛs be said to ‘take refuge’ here? In the background, fire-altars, pitṛ-tarpaṇa at a shoreline, and a distant Somnātha shrine silhouette.

Characters & Entities

• Devas
• Pitṛs
• Havya
• Kavya
• Prabhāsa-kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Lord who establishes sacrificial order (deva- and pitṛ-rites) is beyond need; associating him with Prabhāsa elevates Prabhāsa as a dharma-sustaining tīrtha.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription, but the verse references the dharmic framework of havya (deva-offerings) and kavya (pitṛ-offerings).