Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 12

Devanagari script

पितरस्तस्य तृप्यंति यावदाभूतसंप्लवम् । तत्रेष्टा ब्रह्मणा पूर्वमसंख्याता मखोत्तमाः

Transliteration

pitarastasya tṛpyaṃti yāvadābhūtasaṃplavam | tatreṣṭā brahmaṇā pūrvamasaṃkhyātā makhottamāḥ

Translation

Ses ancêtres sont comblés jusqu’à la dissolution cosmique. Jadis, en ce lieu même, Brahmā accomplit d’innombrables sacrifices d’une excellence suprême.

Word by Word

• पितरः: the Pitṛs/ancestors
• पितरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• तस्य: of him/of that
• तस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• तृप्यन्ति: are satisfied
• तृप्यन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: तृप् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार, परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; √तृप्—'to be satisfied'

• यावत्: until
• यावत्: Kala-adhikarana (Temporal limit/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यावत् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधिपर्यन्त (until/as long as)

• आभूतसंप्लवम्: up to the dissolution of beings (cosmic deluge)
• आभूतसंप्लवम्: Kala-adhikarana (Extent of time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आ-भूत-संप्लव (प्रातिपदिक; आ + भूत + संप्लव)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; अव्ययीभावः (आ + भूतसंप्लवम्) = 'up to the cosmic dissolution' (accusative of extent)

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक

• इष्टाः: performed
• इष्टाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यज् (धातु) → इष्ट (कृदन्त/क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; 'worshipped/performed' (agreeing with मखोत्तमाः)

• ब्रह्मणा: by Brahmā
• ब्रह्मणा: Karta (Agent in passive/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• पूर्वम्: formerly
• पूर्वम्: Kala-adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पूर्वम् (अव्यय/नपुंसक-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक (formerly/before)

• असंख्याताः: countless
• असंख्याताः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ- संख्यात (प्रातिपदिक; नञ् + संख्यात)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying मखोत्तमाः)

• मखोत्तमाः: excellent sacrifices
• मखोत्तमाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मख-उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक; मख + उत्तम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मधारयः (उत्तमाः मखाः)

Speaker

Unspecified (contextual narrator)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Daśāśvamedha-pradeśa within Prabhāsa)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A luminous coastal sacred field at Prabhāsa: Brahmā presides over a vast yajña-vedi with multiple fires; nearby pilgrims offer water-libations to pitṛs, while the atmosphere suggests ‘until pralaya’ endurance.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Brahmā
• Makha (yajña)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Rites done at a supremely sanctified place yield enduring results, extending even to ancestral satisfaction across vast cosmic time.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Prabhāsa sacred tract associated with Aśvamedha/Daśāśvamedha, presented as a historic yajña-ground of Brahmā.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, pitṛ-related offerings/rites at the site; the verse also recalls Brahmā’s performance of many yajñas there.