Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 100

Devanagari script

पापस्य कालं भवपंककालं कलाकलं कालमार्गस्य कालम् । देवं महाकालमहं प्रपद्ये श्रीकालकंठं भवकालरूपम्

Transliteration

pāpasya kālaṃ bhavapaṃkakālaṃ kalākalaṃ kālamārgasya kālam | devaṃ mahākālamahaṃ prapadye śrīkālakaṃṭhaṃ bhavakālarūpam

Translation

Je prends refuge en Mahākāla, le Seigneur qui est la mort du péché, le destructeur de la fange du devenir, le Temps même qui gouverne la voie du Temps : Śrī Kālakaṇṭha, dont la forme est le Temps qui met fin au cycle de l’existence.

Word by Word

• पापस्य: of sin
• पापस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन

• कालम्: the destroyer/time
• कालम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; appositional object to देवम्/महाकालम्

• भवपङ्ककालम्: the destroyer of the mire of worldly existence
• भवपङ्ककालम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भव + पङ्क + काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (‘भवस्य पङ्कः’ = mire of saṃsāra; ‘तस्य कालः’ = destroyer)

• कलाकलम्: the foremost among arts/parts (epithet)
• कलाकलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कला + कल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः—कर्मधारयः/यमक-प्रयोगः (‘कलानां कलः’/‘of arts, the best’)

• कालमार्गस्य: of the path of Time/Death
• कालमार्गस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल + मार्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (‘कालस्य मार्गः’ = path of Time/Death)

• कालम्: the ender/destroyer
• कालम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; repetition as epithet

• देवम्: the god
• देवम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• महाकालम्: Mahākāla
• महाकालम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा + काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः—कर्मधारयः (‘महान् कालः’)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• प्रपद्ये: take refuge in
• प्रपद्ये: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + पद् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/वर्तमान), उत्तमपुरुष (1st), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• श्रीकालकण्ठम्: the glorious Kālakaṇṭha
• श्रीकालकण्ठम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्री + कालकण्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (‘श्री’ उपपद-पूर्वक; ‘कालकण्ठ’ = epithet of Śiva)

• भवकालरूपम्: whose form is the destroyer of worldly existence
• भवकालरूपम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भव + काल + रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (‘भवस्य कालः’ = destroyer of saṃsāra; ‘तस्य रूपम्’ = whose form is)

Speaker

A dvija devotee (as implied by the immediate narrative context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mahākāla

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahākāla/Śiva (addressed as the refuge)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee stands before the dark, radiant Mahākāla-liṅga, the aura suggesting a wheel of time; shadows of saṃsāra dissolve as the hymn declares Śiva as the death of sin and the end of worldly mire.

Characters & Entities

• Mahākāla
• Śiva
• Kālakaṇṭha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śiva as Mahākāla is portrayed as the final power that dissolves sin and the bondage of worldly becoming, making surrender (śaraṇāgati) the direct path to freedom.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse centers on Mahākāla—classically associated with Ujjain’s Mahākāleśvara—though here the emphasis is theological: Śiva as Time within the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is prescribed; the act highlighted is devotional surrender and praise of Mahākāla.