Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

पैतृकात्तु ऋणान्मुक्ता भवंतु गतकल्मषाः । व्यन्तरत्वं सुरश्रेष्ठ येषां वै पितरो गताः

Transliteration

paitṛkāttu ṛṇānmuktā bhavaṃtu gatakalmaṣāḥ | vyantaratvaṃ suraśreṣṭha yeṣāṃ vai pitaro gatāḥ

Translation

「彼らが祖霊への負債より解き放たれ、あらゆる穢れを離れて清浄となりますように。神々の中の最勝者よ、たとえ祖先が vyantara（さまよう中間の存在）の境に堕ちた者であっても、ここにおいて救い上げられますように。」

Word by Word

• पैतृकात्: from ancestral (paternal)
• पैतृकात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पैतृक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन; 'from paternal/ancestral (debt)'

• तु: but; indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विरोध/अन्वयबोधक (particle)

• ऋणात्: from debt
• ऋणात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन

• मुक्ताः: freed
• मुक्ताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मुच् (धातु) → मुक्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त: 'freed'

• भवन्तु: let them be
• भवन्तु: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• गतकल्मषाः: free from sin; with sins gone
• गतकल्मषाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गत (कृदन्त) + कल्मष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; कर्मधारय: गतं कल्मषं येषाम्/ये = 'whose sin has gone'

• व्यन्तरत्वम्: the state of being a Vyantara (a class of beings)
• व्यन्तरत्वम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्यन्तरत्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• सुरश्रेष्ठ: O best of gods
• सुरश्रेष्ठ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुर (प्रातिपदिक) + श्रेष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: सुराणां श्रेष्ठः

• येषाम्: of whom
• येषाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक (relative pronoun)

• वै: indeed
• वै: Avadharana (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निश्चयार्थक (emphatic particle)

• पितरः: the fathers
• पितरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• गताः: have gone; have attained
• गताः: Kriya-samānādhikaraṇa (Predicative/समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गम् (धातु) → गत (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त: 'gone/attained'

Speaker

Unspecified (contextual prayer within Prabhāsa-kṣetra-māhātmya narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Unspecified within the excerpt

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At Prabhāsa, a devotee offers water-libations; subtle forms of ancestors rise from shadowy vyantara-like unrest into calm luminous ascent, as the deity’s grace purifies them.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs
• Suraśreṣṭha
• Vyantara

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Ritual remembrance and offerings to the Pitṛs at a powerful tīrtha can purify lineage burdens and aid even troubled ancestral states.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Prabhāsa tīrtha region) as praised in the Prabhāsa-kṣetra-māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse implies pitṛ-oriented rites leading to release from pitṛ-ṛṇa; the detailed prescriptions (snāna/tarpaṇa/śrāddha) appear in the surrounding verses.