Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

प्राग्वंशकायो द्युतिमान्मात्रादीक्षाभिरावृतः । दक्षिणा हृदयो योगी महासत्रमहो महान्

Transliteration

prāgvaṃśakāyo dyutimānmātrādīkṣābhirāvṛtaḥ | dakṣiṇā hṛdayo yogī mahāsatramaho mahān

Translation

Rayonnant, ayant pour corps le prāgvaṃśa, et enveloppé de consécrations commençant par les rites de mātrā, son cœur était la dakṣiṇā, le don sacrificiel. Il était un yogin — grand, la majesté même du mahāsatra.

Word by Word

• prāk-vaṃśa-kāyaḥ: whose body is the prāgvaṃśa (eastern sacrificial enclosure)
• prāk-vaṃśa-kāyaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prāk + vaṃśa + kāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (masculine, nominative, singular)

• dyutimān: radiant
• dyutimān: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dyutimat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (masculine, nominative, singular)

• mātrā-dīkṣābhiḥ: with (the) measures and consecrations
• mātrā-dīkṣābhiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/Means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mātrā + dīkṣā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), बहुवचन (feminine, instrumental, plural)

• āvṛtaḥ: covered; enveloped
• āvṛtaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ā + vṛ (धातु) + āvṛta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (past participle, masculine nominative singular)

• dakṣiṇā-hṛdayaḥ: whose heart is the dakṣiṇā (sacrificial fee)
• dakṣiṇā-hṛdayaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dakṣiṇā + hṛdaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (masculine, nominative, singular)

• yogī: the yogin
• yogī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yogin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (masculine, nominative, singular)

• mahā-satra-mahaḥ: whose festival/rite is the great satra
• mahā-satra-mahaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahā + satra + maha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (masculine, nominative, singular)

• mahān: great
• mahān: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahant (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (masculine, nominative, singular)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva) (contextual continuation)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A radiant yajña-being whose torso is the prāgvaṃśa (eastern sacrificial hall/structure), wrapped in layers of dīkṣā like luminous veils; at the heart glows a dakṣiṇā-gift symbol (gold/cow/cloth); the figure is simultaneously a yogin seated within a vast mahāsatra arena.

Characters & Entities

• Yajñavarāha
• Prāgvaṃśa
• Dīkṣā
• Dakṣiṇā
• Mahāsatra
• Īśvara (Śiva)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True sacrifice includes dakṣiṇā (generous giving) and disciplined consecration; inner yoga and outer yajña are unified.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse remains part of the Prabhāsa sacred-geography narrative that culminates in Karddamāla tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, it extols dīkṣā (consecration) and dakṣiṇā (ritual gifting) as essential limbs of yajña.