Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 4

Devanagari script

तत्राश्रमवरे स्नात्वा पश्यन्तो रूपमात्मनः । कामेन सदृशं सर्वे विस्मयं परमं गताः

Transliteration

tatrāśramavare snātvā paśyanto rūpamātmanaḥ | kāmena sadṛśaṃ sarve vismayaṃ paramaṃ gatāḥ

Translation

Là, après s’être baignés dans cet āśrama d’excellence, ils contemplèrent leur propre forme : chacun semblable à Kāma, dieu de la beauté ; et tous furent saisis d’un étonnement suprême.

Word by Word

• tatra: there
• tatra: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (locative adverb)

• āśramavare: in the best hermitage
• āśramavare: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āśrama-vara (प्रातिपदिक; आश्रम + वर)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन; अधिकरणम् (in the excellent hermitage)

• snātvā: having bathed
• snātvā: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: snā (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययभाव (gerund), ‘having bathed’

• paśyantaḥ: seeing
• paśyantaḥ: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: paśyat (कृदन्त; √dṛś)
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन; कर्तरि (while seeing)

• rūpam: form/appearance
• rūpam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Accusative), एकवचन; कर्म (object of ‘paśyantaḥ’)

• ātmanaḥ: of themselves
• ātmanaḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (Genitive), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध (of themselves)

• kāmena: with/like Kāma (Cupid)
• kāmena: Karana (Instrument/Means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन; उपमान/साधनभाव (instrument/standard of comparison: ‘like Kāma’)

• sadṛśam: similar
• sadṛśam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sadṛśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Accusative), एकवचन; rūpam इति विशेषणम्

• sarve: all (of them)
• sarve: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन; कर्ता (refers to the sages: ‘all’)

• vismayam: astonishment
• vismayam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vismaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Accusative), एकवचन; गताः इत्यस्य कर्म (attained amazement)

• paramam: supreme/great
• paramam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Accusative), एकवचन; vismayam इति विशेषणम्

• gatāḥ: attained/went into
• gatāḥ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन; कर्तरि प्रयोगे (went/attained)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Āśrama-vara-snānīya tīrtha (within Prabhāsa)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At the hermitage bathing spot, sages emerge from the water transformed—faces radiant, bodies youthful and symmetrical, likened to Kāma; they gaze at their reflections in the water with astonishment; hermitage trees and a small shrine frame the scene.

Characters & Entities

• Āśrama (hermitage) near Piṅgalī
• Kāma (god of love/beauty)
• Maharṣis

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Contact with a tīrtha through snāna can symbolically and karmically ‘refine’ the person—outer change mirrors inner purification.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The bathing place at an excellent āśrama associated with the Piṅgalī river region in Prabhāsa Kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (ritual bathing) at the tīrtha/āśrama is the stated practice producing the described benefit.