Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 25

Devanagari script

प्राणिनो भक्षयन्सर्वान्संप्राप्तो विंध्यपर्वते । अस्मादनन्तरं भाव्यं कृकलासत्वमद्भुतम्

Transliteration

prāṇino bhakṣayansarvānsaṃprāpto viṃdhyaparvate | asmādanantaraṃ bhāvyaṃ kṛkalāsatvamadbhutam

Translation

Dévorant tout être vivant, il atteignit la montagne Vindhya. Immédiatement après cela, un changement merveilleux était destiné à se produire : il deviendrait un lézard.

Word by Word

• prāṇinaḥ: living beings
• prāṇinaḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prāṇin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), बहुवचन

• bhakṣayan: devouring
• bhakṣayan: Karta (Agent qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhakṣ (धातु) + śatṛ (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त वर्तमानकाले कृदन्त (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘asau’ इत्यस्य विशेषण

• sarvān: all
• sarvān: Karma (Object qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; ‘prāṇinaḥ’ इति विशेषण

• saṃprāptaḥ: having reached
• saṃprāptaḥ: Kriya (Predicative)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam-pra-āp (धातु) + kta (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (PPP), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘having reached/arrived’

• viṃdhya-parvate: on Mount Vindhya
• viṃdhya-parvate: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viṃdhya (प्रातिपदिक) + parvata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘viṃdhyasya parvate’ = on Mount Vindhya

• asmāt: from this
• asmāt: Apādāna (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative), एकवचन

• anantaram: immediately after
• anantaram: Kāla (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anantara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाववत् क्रियाविशेषण-प्रयोग (adverbial accusative): immediately/afterwards

• bhāvyam: is to be/become
• bhāvyam: Kriya (Predicative)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhū (धातु) + yat (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: यत्-प्रत्ययान्त भाव्यतार्थक कृदन्त (gerundive/future passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘to be (become)’

• kṛkalāsa-tvam: the state of being a lizard
• kṛkalāsa-tvam: Karta (Subject complement)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛkalāsa (प्रातिपदिक) + tva (तद्धित-प्रत्यय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तद्धितान्त भाववाचक: ‘kṛkalāsasya bhāvaḥ’ = lizard-hood

• adbhutam: wonderful, astonishing
• adbhutam: Karta (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: adbhuta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘kṛkalāsatvam’ इति विशेषण

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating to the sages (contextual attribution within Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa Māhātmya narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vindhya (episode-setting); Dvārāvatī (implied next)

Type: peak

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Dilīpa

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A rākṣasa roaming the Vindhya slopes, devouring creatures; then a sudden, uncanny shift—his form shrinking into a lizard, suggesting karmic compression and impending release through wonder.

Characters & Entities

• Vindhya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Unchecked violence and sin ripen into painful karmic transformations, showing the inevitability of dharma’s moral law.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader chapter belongs to Dvārakā Māhātmya (glorifying Dvārakā), though this verse’s immediate geography mentions the Vindhya mountain.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None is stated in this verse; it describes karmic consequence through narrative.