Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 5

Devanagari script

असकृत्पापपापेति गच्छगच्छ नराधम । यज्ञवेदिर्न चार्हा हि मानुषास्थिधरस्य ते

Transliteration

asakṛtpāpapāpeti gacchagaccha narādhama | yajñavedirna cārhā hi mānuṣāsthidharasya te

Translation

Et sans cesse ils criaient : « Péché ! Péché ! Va-t’en, va-t’en, le plus vil des hommes ! L’autel du sacrifice n’est point digne de celui qui porte des os humains. »

Word by Word

• asakṛt: again and again
• asakṛt: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: asakṛt (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; आवृत्तिवाचक (repeatedly)

• pāpa: sinful one
• pāpa: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; (उक्तौ) संबोधनार्थे प्रयोगः

• pāpa: sinful one
• pāpa: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; (उक्तौ) संबोधनार्थे प्रयोगः

• iti: thus
• iti: Quotation marker (उद्धरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; इति-प्रयोगः (quotative)

• gaccha: go
• gaccha: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √gam (गम्)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• gaccha: go (away)
• gaccha: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √gam (गम्)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• narādhama: O lowest of men
• narādhama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक) + adhama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, संबोधन (8th), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (narāṇām adhamaḥ)

• yajña-vediḥ: the sacrificial altar
• yajña-vediḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yajña (प्रातिपदिक) + vedi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (yajñasya vediḥ)

• na: not
• na: Negation (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध (negation)

• ca: and
• ca: Connector (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• arhā: fit, proper
• arhā: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: arha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• hi: indeed
• hi: Particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (emphasis/indeed)

• mānuṣa-asthi-dharasya: of (you) who bear human bones
• mānuṣa-asthi-dharasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mānuṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + asthi (प्रातिपदिक) + dhara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (mānuṣāṇi asthīni dharati iti)

• te: for you / of you
• te: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (त्वदर्थे)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva) (narrating the quoted speech of the Brahmins)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Surēśvarī (addressed as ‘Queen of the gods’, i.e., Devī/Umā)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A yajña-maṇḍapa with blazing vedi; sages and officiants recoil, pointing and shouting ‘pāpa’; a lone figure marked by a skull-bowl (kapāla) stands at the threshold, tension between sacred order and the Lord’s unsettling play.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmins
• Yajña-vedi (altar)
• Kapāladhārin (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Judging holiness solely by external purity codes can become cruelty and blindness to the divine.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kapāleśvara in Prabhāsakṣetra, whose legend unfolds from this sacrificial confrontation.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it records the priests’ exclusionary speech at the sacrificial altar.