Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 81

Devanagari script

विश्वस्य धनलोभेन स्वाध्यायो निहतः पतिः । आरोप्यमाणं शूलाग्रमेनं पश्यत भो जनाः

Transliteration

viśvasya dhanalobhena svādhyāyo nihataḥ patiḥ | āropyamāṇaṃ śūlāgramenaṃ paśyata bho janāḥ

Translation

« À cause de l'avidité pour la richesse, le maître de l'étude sacrée a été tué ! » Regardez, ô gens, comme celui-ci est hissé sur la pointe d'un pieu !

Word by Word

• viśvasya: of the world/of all
• viśvasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन — genitive singular

• dhanalobhena: by/through greed for wealth
• dhanalobhena: Karana/Hetu (Instrument/Cause/करण-हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhana (प्रातिपदिक) + lobha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन — instrumental singular; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (धनस्य लोभः)

• svādhyāyaḥ: self-study (of Veda)
• svādhyāyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svādhyāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — nominative singular

• nihataḥ: destroyed
• nihataḥ: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया-भाव)
• Type: Verb
• Root: han (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — ‘killed/destroyed’

• patiḥ: lord/master
• patiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन — nominative singular (apposition)

• āropyamāṇam: being placed (upon)
• āropyamāṇam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-ruh (धातु) + ya-māna (यमान/शानच्)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले कर्मणि शानच्/यमान-प्रत्ययान्त (present passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — ‘being mounted/being placed upon’

• śūlāgram: the tip of a spear/trident
• śūlāgram: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śūla (प्रातिपदिक) + agra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन — accusative singular; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (शूलस्य अग्रं)

• enam: this one/him
• enam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन — accusative singular pronoun

• paśyata: see (you all)!
• paśyata: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative/लोट्), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष (2nd), बहुवचन — ‘see!’

• bho: O!
• bho: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: bho (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बोधन-निपात (vocative particle)

• janāḥ: people
• janāḥ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन — nominative plural (addressed)

Speaker

Festival announcers/performers (deduced; dramatic proclamation within the utsava enactment)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A stark stage tableau: an actor representing a learned husband (svādhyāya-nistha) slain due to greed, being raised onto a stake-tip, while a herald cries out to the crowd—horror used as moral warning.

Characters & Entities

• svādhyāya (personified sacred study)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Greed destroys dharma: when wealth-lust dominates, even svādhyāya (sacred discipline) is ‘killed’—a warning dramatized for the public.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra, where festival performances publicly teach dharma through vivid moral imagery.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A didactic enactment/announcement during the festival, displaying the punishment and public warning against greed.