Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

सर्वान्केशान्समुद्धृत्य च्छेदयेदंगुलद्वयम् । ततो देवान्विधानेन तर्प्पयेत्पितृदेवताः

Transliteration

sarvānkeśānsamuddhṛtya cchedayedaṃguladvayam | tato devānvidhānena tarppayetpitṛdevatāḥ

Translation

Ayant rassemblé toute la chevelure, qu’on la coupe à la longueur de deux doigts ; puis, selon le rite prescrit, qu’on accomplisse le tarpaṇa pour contenter les dieux et les divinités des ancêtres.

Word by Word

• सर्वान्: all
• सर्वान्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (केशान्) ‘all’

• केशान्: hairs
• केशान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: केश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचन

• समुद्धृत्य: having uprooted/removed
• समुद्धृत्य: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-उद्√हृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (absolutive) ‘having pulled up/removed’

• च्छेदयेत्: should cut
• च्छेदयेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √छिद् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; ‘should cut’

• अङ्गुलद्वयम्: two fingers’ breadth
• अङ्गुलद्वयम्: Karma/Measure (कर्म-प्रमाण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्गुलि + द्वय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; प्रमाणार्थकं ‘two finger-breadths’

• ततः: then; thereafter
• ततः: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, क्रम/अपादानार्थक (then/thereafter)

• देवान्: the gods
• देवान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचन

• विधानेन: by the prescribed procedure
• विधानेन: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विधान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; ‘according to rule/with prescribed procedure’

• तर्प्पयेत्: should satisfy/offer libations to
• तर्प्पयेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √तृप् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; ‘should satisfy (with offerings)’

• पितृदेवताः: ancestral deities (pitṛs)
• पितृदेवताः: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ + देवता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म) बहुवचन (तर्प्पयेत् इत्यस्य कर्म); ‘the ancestral deities’

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced from Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa māhātmya narration style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: The addressed woman pilgrim

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim gathers her hair and trims it to a measured length, then stands at the water’s edge offering tarpaṇa with cupped hands, invoking devas and pitṛs; vessels and darbha visible.

Characters & Entities

• Devas
• Pitṛs (ancestral deities)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Outer purification (grooming/renunciation markers) should be joined with inner dharma through proper offerings to devas and pitṛs.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra, within the Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa’s Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, associated with sacred coastal rites.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A prescribed hair-cutting measure followed by tarpaṇa (libations) to gods and ancestors according to rule.