Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

अद्यापि संशयो नाथ तीर्थमाहात्म्यसंभवः । अन्यत्कौतूहलं देव कथयस्व महेश्वर

Transliteration

adyāpi saṃśayo nātha tīrthamāhātmyasaṃbhavaḥ | anyatkautūhalaṃ deva kathayasva maheśvara

Translation

Wahai Nātha, hingga kini masih tersisa keraguanku yang timbul dari ajaran tentang kemuliaan tīrtha. Dan ada satu keingintahuan lagi, wahai Dewa—jelaskanlah, wahai Maheśvara.

Word by Word

• adya: today/now
• adya: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal adverb)

• api: still, even
• api: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle); ‘अपि’ = also/even/still

• saṃśayaḥ: doubt
• saṃśayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃśaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (masculine nominative singular)

• nātha: O protector/lord
• nātha: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nātha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• tīrthamāhātmyasaṃbhavaḥ: arising from the greatness of the sacred ford
• tīrthamāhātmyasaṃbhavaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tīrtha + māhātmya + saṃbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘saṃśayaḥ’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम् (doubt arising from...)

• anyat: another
• anyat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘kautūhalam’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• kautūhalam: curiosity, question
• kautūhalam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kautūhala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (neuter accusative singular)

• deva: O god
• deva: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• kathayasva: please narrate/tell
• kathayasva: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kathaya (णिजन्त from kath) (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• maheśvara: O Great Lord
• maheśvara: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

Speaker

Devī (Pārvatī)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee (Mahādevī/Umā as listener) bows with folded hands, voicing doubt and curiosity before Maheśvara seated in calm majesty, beginning a sacred discourse set against the coastal sanctity of Prabhāsa.

Characters & Entities

• Devī (Pārvatī)
• Maheśvara (Śiva)
• Tīrtha-māhātmya (topic)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Doubt is not condemned; it is refined through respectful questioning, leading to clearer understanding of dharma and tīrtha-meaning.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The immediate frame is Prabhāsa-kṣetra māhātmya, though the verse also gestures to tīrthas in general as a doctrinal theme.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the ‘prescription’ is pedagogical—ask, clarify, and then practice with conviction.