Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 103

Devanagari script

लक्षमेकं मतंगानां रथानां त्रिगुणं ततः । अश्वा दशगुणा राजन्नसंख्याताः पदातयः

Transliteration

lakṣamekaṃ mataṃgānāṃ rathānāṃ triguṇaṃ tataḥ | aśvā daśaguṇā rājannasaṃkhyātāḥ padātayaḥ

Translation

Il y avait cent mille éléphants ; les chars étaient trois fois plus ; les chevaux, dix fois davantage, ô Roi — et les fantassins étaient innombrables.

Word by Word

• lakṣam: a hundred thousand
• lakṣam: Karma/Pramāṇa (Object/measure)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd Nom/Acc), एकवचन

• ekam: one
• ekam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; संख्याविशेषण

• mataṃgānām: of elephants
• mataṃgānām: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mataṃga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• rathānām: of chariots
• rathānām: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ratha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• triguṇam: threefold; triple
• triguṇam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक) + guṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः—त्रयः गुणाः (त्रिगुणम्)

• tataḥ: thereafter; from that
• tataḥ: Adhikaraṇa/Avyaya (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय—अथ/तस्मात् (adverb: thereafter/from that)

• aśvāḥ: horses
• aśvāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aśva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• daśaguṇāḥ: tenfold
• daśaguṇāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: daśa (प्रातिपदिक) + guṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मधारयः—दश गुणाः (tenfold)

• rājan: O king
• rājan: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• asaṃkhyātāḥ: countless
• asaṃkhyātāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-saṃkhyāta (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; नञ्-समासपूर्वक विशेषण

• padātayaḥ: foot-soldiers
• padātayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: padāti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic voice, contextually Sūta)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Arbuda

Type: peak

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Rājan (King) addressed in the verse

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A panoramic battlefield-muster: rows of elephants with banners, triple rows of chariots, tenfold cavalry, and an unending sea of foot-soldiers, all oriented toward the distant sacred mountain Arbuda.

Characters & Entities

• Arbuda-parvata

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even vast, innumerable resources cannot protect adharma; the Purāṇas emphasize that divine order surpasses worldly arithmetic.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader glorification is of Arbuda-parvata’s sacred narrative space within the Skanda Purāṇa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse gives a hyperbolic census to convey the magnitude of the mobilization.