Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 14

Devanagari script

भूतिदो विघ्नहंता च चतुश्चक्रो जनार्द्दनः । पञ्चभिर्वासुदेवस्तु जन्ममृत्युभयापहः

Transliteration

bhūtido vighnahaṃtā ca catuścakro janārddanaḥ | pañcabhirvāsudevastu janmamṛtyubhayāpahaḥ

Translation

Par quatre (prononciations), on atteint Janārdana—porteur du disque (aux quatre bras), dispensateur de prospérité et destructeur des obstacles. Par cinq, on atteint Vāsudeva, qui ôte la crainte de la naissance et de la mort.

Word by Word

• bhūtidaḥ: giver of prosperity
• bhūtidaḥ: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bhūti (प्रातिपदिक) + da (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (bhūteḥ dātā—'giver of prosperity'), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (janārddanaḥ इति)

• vighnahaṃtā: destroyer of obstacles
• vighnahaṃtā: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vighna (प्रातिपदिक) + hantṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (vighnān hanti—'destroyer of obstacles'), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (janārddanaḥ इति)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय)

• catuḥcakraḥ: having four cakras
• catuḥcakraḥ: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: catur (संख्याप्रातिपदिक) + cakra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुव्रीहि (caturṇi cakrāṇi yasya—'who has four discs'), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (janārddanaḥ इति)

• janārddanaḥ: Janārdana (Vishnu)
• janārddanaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janārdana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• pañcabhiḥ: with five
• pañcabhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pañcan (संख्याप्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्यावाचक, तृतीया, बहुवचन

• vāsudevaḥ: Vāsudeva
• vāsudevaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāsudeva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• tu: but; indeed
• tu: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (विरोध/विशेषार्थक particle)

• janmamṛtyubhayāpahaḥ: remover of fear of birth and death
• janmamṛtyubhayāpahaḥ: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: janman (प्रातिपदिक) + mṛtyu (प्रातिपदिक) + bhaya (प्रातिपदिक) + apaha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (janma-mṛtyu-bhayaṃ apahanti—'remover of the fear of birth and death'), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (vāsudevaḥ इति)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Dvārakā-māhātmya narrative style within Skanda Purāṇa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dvārakā (nāma-ucchāra fruits: Janārdana/Vāsudeva)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Two devotional vignettes: Janārdana as four-armed protector with cakra, granting prosperity and clearing obstacles; Vāsudeva as serene, radiant Kṛṣṇa/Viṣṇu dispelling the shadow-figures of birth and death (two looming forms dissolving into light).

Characters & Entities

• Janārdana
• Vāsudeva
• Cakra (Sudarśana)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotional repetition of the Lord’s Names is portrayed as a direct means to prosperity, obstacle-removal, and fearlessness before saṃsāra.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dvārakā, where Vaiṣṇava worship and remembrance are celebrated as especially fruitful.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Counted Nāma-japa: fourfold linked to Janārdana; fivefold linked to Vāsudeva.