Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

तानि वै स्मृतमात्राणि ब्रह्मणा वरवर्णिनि । प्रादुर्भूतानि तत्रैव नद्यास्तीरे सुशोभने

Transliteration

tāni vai smṛtamātrāṇi brahmaṇā varavarṇini | prādurbhūtāni tatraiva nadyāstīre suśobhane

Translation

હે સુવર્ણવર્ણિની! બ્રહ્માએ માત્ર સ્મરણ કરતાં જ તે પુષ્કરો ત્યાં જ, સુંદર નદીના કિનારે પ્રાદુર્ભૂત થયા।

Word by Word

• tāni: those (things)
• tāni: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Prathamā (1st/प्रथमा), Bahuvacana (बहुवचन)

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha/Emphasis (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: Nipāta (निपात), emphasis/indeed

• smṛtamātrāṇi: merely remembered
• smṛtamātrāṇi: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: smṛta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक) + mātra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Prathamā (1st/प्रथमा), Bahuvacana (बहुवचन); Tatpuruṣa ‘smṛta-mātra’ = ‘only remembered/merely by remembrance’

• brahmaṇā: by Brahmā
• brahmaṇā: Karaṇa/Agent (Instrumental agent/करण-कर्तृ)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (पुंलिङ्ग), Tṛtīyā (3rd/तृतीया), Ekavacana (एकवचन)

• vara-varṇini: O fair-complexioned one
• vara-varṇini: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vara (प्रातिपदिक) + varṇinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Sambodhana (vocative/सम्बोधन), Ekavacana (एकवचन); karmadhāraya ‘varaḥ varṇaḥ yasyāḥ’

• prādurbhūtāni: appeared, manifested
• prādurbhūtāni: Kriyā (Predicate as participle/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: prādur-bhū (धातु)
• Form: Kta-participle (क्त), Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Prathamā (1st/प्रथमा), Bahuvacana (बहुवचन)

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: Deśavyaya (देशवाचक-अव्यय)

• eva: just, indeed
• eva: Sambandha/Emphasis (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: Nipāta (निपात), restriction/emphasis

• nadyāḥ: of the river
• nadyāḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nadī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Ṣaṣṭhī (6th/षष्ठी), Ekavacana (एकवचन)

• tīre: on the bank
• tīre: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Saptamī (7th/सप्तमी), Ekavacana (एकवचन)

• suśobhane: very beautiful
• suśobhane: Adhikaraṇa (Location-qualifier/अधिकरण-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su-śobhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Saptamī (7th/सप्तमी), Ekavacana (एकवचन); karmadhāraya with upasarga su-

Speaker

Narrator addressing a female listener (varavarṇinī) (frame not explicit)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Puṣkarāṇi (Puṣkara tīrthas)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A addressed ‘varavarṇinī’ (fair-complexioned lady) within the narrative

Visual Art Cues

Scene: On a radiant riverbank, as Brahmā remembers, luminous lotus-lakes (Puṣkaras) appear instantly—water shimmering, lotuses blooming, divine light suffusing the shore; the narrator addresses a fair lady.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā
• River bank (nadī-tīra)
• Puṣkaras (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic tradition portrays sacred geography as divinely revealed—holy sites arise through divine will and remembrance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The riverbank setting where the Puṣkara-related manifestations appear—leading into Puṣkarāvartakā’s māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct rite is prescribed here; it establishes the divine origin of the tīrtha as the basis for later rituals.