Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 54

Devanagari script

त्रिंशत्कल्पैः स्मृतो मासो वर्षं द्वादशभिस्तु तैः । अनेन वर्षमानेन तदा ब्रह्माऽष्टवार्षिकः । आनीतः सोमराजेन सोमनाथः प्रतिष्ठितः

Transliteration

triṃśatkalpaiḥ smṛto māso varṣaṃ dvādaśabhistu taiḥ | anena varṣamānena tadā brahmā'ṣṭavārṣikaḥ | ānītaḥ somarājena somanāthaḥ pratiṣṭhitaḥ

Translation

Un « mois » est tenu en mémoire comme formé de trente kalpas, et une « année » de douze (mois) semblables. Selon cette mesure, alors Brahmā avait huit ans ; et Somarāja amena (le Seigneur) et établit Somnātha à Prabhāsa.

Word by Word

• triṃśatkalpaiḥ: by/with thirty kalpas
• triṃśatkalpaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: triṃśat (प्रातिपदिक) + kalpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचन; संख्या-तत्पुरुष (triṃśat kalpaiḥ)

• smṛtaḥ: is reckoned/remembered
• smṛtaḥ: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √smṛ (धातु); smṛta (कृदन्त, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘is considered/remembered’

• māsaḥ: a month
• māsaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• varṣam: a year
• varṣam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• dvādaśabhiḥ: by twelve
• dvādaśabhiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvādaśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (संख्याशब्द), तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचन; ‘by twelve’

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

• taiḥ: by those (i.e., those months)
• taiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• anena: by this
• anena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• varṣamānena: by the year-measure
• varṣamānena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣamāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन; ‘measure/standard of a year’

• tadā: then
• tadā: Kāla (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक अव्यय (adverb of time)

• brahmā: Brahmā
• brahmā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• aṣṭavārṣikaḥ: eight-year-old
• aṣṭavārṣikaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭa (प्रातिपदिक) + vārṣika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (aṣṭa-varṣikaḥ = eight-year-old) विशेषण

• ānītaḥ: brought
• ānītaḥ: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √nī (धातु) + ā-; ānīta (कृदन्त, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘was brought’

• somarājena: by Soma-king (Moon)
• somarājena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: soma (प्रातिपदिक) + rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (somasya rājā)

• somanāthaḥ: Somanātha (Lord of Soma)
• somanāthaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: soma (प्रातिपदिक) + nātha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (somasya nāthaḥ)

• pratiṣṭhitaḥ: installed/established
• pratiṣṭhitaḥ: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √sthā (धातु) + prati-; pratiṣṭhita (कृदन्त, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘was स्थापित/installed’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa māhātmya narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Somnātha at Prabhāsa

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Somarāja (Moon-god) in a radiant chariot carrying a sacred liṅga or leading a procession to the seashore shrine; Brahmā as a youthful figure in the background marking cosmic ‘eight years’; Somnātha temple being established with Vedic rites.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā
• Somarāja (Candra)
• Somnātha
• Prabhāsa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Prabhāsa-Somnātha is portrayed as a shrine grounded in cosmic time: the tīrtha’s sanctity is as ancient and authoritative as creation’s own measures.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Somnātha at Prabhāsa Kṣetra (Saurāṣṭra/Gujarat) is explicitly mentioned as established by Somarāja.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is prescribed here; it records the consecration (pratiṣṭhā) of Somnātha and the cosmic chronology framing it.