Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 57

Devanagari script

त्रिकालं यत्र रुद्रस्तु समागत्य व्यवस्थितः । तन्महालयमित्युक्तं स्थानं तस्य महात्मनः

Transliteration

trikālaṃ yatra rudrastu samāgatya vyavasthitaḥ | tanmahālayamityuktaṃ sthānaṃ tasya mahātmanaḥ

Translation

Là où Rudra vient et demeure aux trois temps (du jour), ce lieu est nommé « Mahālaya », la grande demeure de cet Être sublime.

Word by Word

• tri-kālam: at the three times (past, present, future / morning-noon-evening)
• tri-kālam: Kriya (Temporal adverb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक) + kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: अव्ययीभाव (कालवाचक) — 'at the three times'; अव्ययवत् प्रयोग

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (सम्बन्ध/देशवाचक) — relative adverb 'where'

• rudraḥ: Rudra (Śiva)
• rudraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rudra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• tu: indeed, however
• tu: Sambandha (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात/समुच्चय-भेदक) — 'indeed/but'

• samāgatya: having arrived
• samāgatya: Kriya (Non-finite verbal qualifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ā-gam (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (अव्ययभाव) — Absolutive/Gerund; 'having come/arrived'

• vyavasthitaḥ: stationed, remaining
• vyavasthitaḥ: Karta (Subject complement/कर्तृसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-ava-sthā (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; 'standing/remaining stationed'

• tat: that (place)
• tat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; संकेत/निर्देश

• mahālayam: great abode
• mahālayam: Karta (Predicate nominative/समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + ālaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: कर्मधारय (महान् आलयः); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Quotation marker/इति)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (उद्धरण/इति-निपात) — quotative marker

• uktam: is said/called
• uktam: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; 'is said/called'

• sthānam: place
• sthānam: Karta (Apposition/समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sthāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• tasya: of him
• tasya: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• mahātmanaḥ: of the great-souled one
• mahātmanaḥ: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mahālaya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A serene sacred precinct in Prabhāsa where Rudra is envisioned arriving and abiding at dawn, noon, and dusk; three bands of light mark the day’s turns, with a liṅga or Śiva-form radiating calm authority.

Characters & Entities

• Rudra (Śiva)
• Mahālaya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred space is intensified by sacred time: Rudra’s thrice-daily abiding makes the site a ‘Mahālaya’, a supreme dwelling of divine presence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A place called Mahālaya in Prabhāsa-kṣetra, defined by Rudra’s trikāla presence.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription is stated, but ‘trikāla’ naturally aligns with thrice-daily worship (trikāla-pūjā) and remembrance at the site.