Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 6

Devanagari script

प्रभासे कथिता देवि पंचस्रोताः सरस्वती । यस्याः प्रवाहैः संभिन्नं क्षेत्रं द्वादशयोजनम्

Transliteration

prabhāse kathitā devi paṃcasrotāḥ sarasvatī | yasyāḥ pravāhaiḥ saṃbhinnaṃ kṣetraṃ dvādaśayojanam

Translation

À Prabhāsa, ô Devī, on dit que la Sarasvatī possède cinq courants. Par ses flots, le pays sacré—d’une étendue de douze yojanas—est entrelacé et partagé en chenaux.

Word by Word

• prabhāse: in Prabhāsa
• prabhāse: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; स्थानवाचक

• kathitā: is described/called
• kathitā: Kriya (Predicate adjective/क्रिया-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √kath (कथ्, कथने)
• Form: कृदन्त-क्त (past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि (is said/called)

• devi: O goddess
• devi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• paṃca-srotāḥ: having five streams
• paṃca-srotāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: paṃca (प्रातिपदिक) + srotas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहि (पञ्च स्रोतो यस्याः सा)

• sarasvatī: Sarasvatī (river)
• sarasvatī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarasvatī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• yasyāḥ: of which/of whom
• yasyāḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (यद्-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक सर्वनाम

• pravāhaiḥ: by the flows/streams
• pravāhaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pravāha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• saṃbhinnaṃ: split/divided
• saṃbhinnaṃ: Kriya (Predicate adjective/क्रिया-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam + √bhid (भिद्, विदारणे)
• Form: कृदन्त-क्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; (kṣetram with)

• kṣetram: the region/field
• kṣetram: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• dvādaśa-yojanam: twelve yojanas (in extent)
• dvādaśa-yojanam: Viśeṣaṇa (Measure qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvādaśa (प्रातिपदिक) + yojana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (द्वादश योजने प्रमाणं यस्य)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Sarasvatī Pañcasrotas)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A map-like sacred panorama: Sarasvatī splitting into five shining streams that braid through a broad kṣetra; small shrines and liṅgas dot the banks; pilgrims traverse bridges and ghāṭas across the channels.

Characters & Entities

• Prabhāsa-kṣetra
• Sarasvatī
• Pañcasrotā (five streams)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A tīrtha is not only a point but a sacred landscape—rivers and their branches shape the field of merit and worship.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra as a twelve-yojana region structured by the five-stream Sarasvatī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription; it provides a pilgrimage-geography description for moving through Prabhāsa’s Sarasvatī channels.