Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

निवेदयन्तो वृत्तांतं चत्वरेषु त्रिकेषु च । यथा वै व्याघ्रतां प्राप्तः स राजाऽर्बुदपर्वते

Transliteration

nivedayanto vṛttāṃtaṃ catvareṣu trikeṣu ca | yathā vai vyāghratāṃ prāptaḥ sa rājā'rbudaparvate

Translation

Rapportant toute l’affaire sur les places et aux carrefours, ils dirent comment ce roi, sur le mont Arbuda, était réellement devenu un tigre.

Word by Word

• nivedayantaḥ: reporting/telling
• nivedayantaḥ: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni + √vid (विद्) (कृदन्त-शतृ)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ); पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; कर्तरि प्रयोग (present participle; masculine nominative plural)

• vṛttāntam: the account/news
• vṛttāntam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛtta + anta (वृत्त + अन्त; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन (masculine accusative singular)

• catvareṣu: in the squares
• catvareṣu: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: catvara (चत्वर-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), बहुवचन (neuter locative plural)

• trikeṣu: at the crossroads/tri-junctions
• trikeṣu: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: trika (त्रिक-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), बहुवचन (neuter locative plural)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (च-अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक (indeclinable conjunction)

• yathā: how
• yathā: Sambandha (Clause linker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (यथा-अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकार/वृत्तान्तवाचक (indeclinable; ‘how/that’)

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (वै-अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निश्चय/खल्वर्थक निपात (particle of emphasis)

• vyāghratām: tigerness; the state of being a tiger
• vyāghratām: Karma (Result state/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vyāghra + tā (व्याघ्र + ता; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन (feminine accusative singular; abstract noun)

• prāptaḥ: having attained
• prāptaḥ: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra + √āp (आप्) (कृदन्त-क्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त); पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्तरि (past participle; masculine nominative singular)

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद्-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन (pronoun; masculine nominative singular)

• rājā: the king
• rājā: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (राजन्-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन (masculine nominative singular)

• arbudaparvate: on Mount Arbuda
• arbudaparvate: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arbuda + parvata (अर्बुद + पर्वत; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन (masculine locative singular)

Speaker

Pulastya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Arbuda-parvata

Type: peak

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Messengers or townsfolk announce at a city square and at crossroads the astonishing news: a king on Arbuda Mountain has become a tiger; the mountain looms in the background, with anxious listeners gathered.

Characters & Entities

• Arbuda-parvata (Mount Arbuda)
• Rājā (king)
• Vyāghra (tiger)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Public memory preserves dharma: society retells karmic examples so future rulers and people avoid adharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Arbuda-parvata (Mount Abu) is explicitly named, framed as a sacred mountain where divine moral order becomes manifest.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse emphasizes proclamation and remembrance rather than a specific vrata or tīrtha-rite.