Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

तत्कपालं करे लग्नं प्रभासक्षेत्रमागतः । ततो वर्षसहस्रं तु संस्थितः क्षेत्रमध्यतः

Transliteration

tatkapālaṃ kare lagnaṃ prabhāsakṣetramāgataḥ | tato varṣasahasraṃ tu saṃsthitaḥ kṣetramadhyataḥ

Translation

Le crâne fixé à sa main, il parvint au kṣetra sacré de Prabhāsa ; puis, durant mille ans, il demeura établi au plein milieu de ce lieu saint.

Word by Word

• tat: that
• tat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying kapālam)

• kapālam: skull
• kapālam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kapāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्म/सम्बन्ध (object carried)

• kare: in (my) hand
• kare: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; अधिकरणे (in the hand)

• lagnam: stuck; attached
• lagnam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: lag (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त/PPP), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying kapālam)

• prabhāsakṣetram: to Prabhāsa-kṣetra
• prabhāsakṣetram: Karma (Goal/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāsa-kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक; प्रभास + क्षेत्र)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्म (goal as object with āgataḥ)

• āgataḥ: having come; came
• āgataḥ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-gam (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त/PPP used adjectivally), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्तरि-प्रयोगे (I having come)

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Temporal/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb; sequence)

• varṣasahasram: a thousand years
• varṣasahasram: Karma (Extent of time/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa-sahasra (प्रातिपदिक; वर्ष + सहस्र)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; काल-परिमाण (duration as accusative)

• tu: indeed; and
• tu: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle; emphasis/contrast)

• saṃsthitaḥ: remained; stayed
• saṃsthitaḥ: Kriya (State/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-sthā (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त/PPP), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; स्थित-भावः (remained)

• kṣetramadhyataḥ: in the middle of the field
• kṣetramadhyataḥ: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kṣetra-madhya (प्रातिपदिक; क्षेत्र + मध्य)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अव्यय (ablatival adverbial: 'from/at the middle')

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva) (contextual attribution within Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (kṣetra-madhya)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī/Pārvatī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva arrives at Prabhāsa with the skull adhered to his palm, then sits immovable at the kṣetra’s center for a thousand years—an image of stillness amid a living pilgrimage landscape.

Characters & Entities

• Prabhāsa-kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A kṣetra becomes supremely sanctifying when the Lord abides there through sustained tapas and presence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Prabhāsakṣetra), the famed sacred region celebrated in the Skanda Purāṇa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is prescribed here; it highlights the Lord’s residence in the kṣetra as the basis of its greatness.