Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 46

Devanagari script

विग्रहो विग्रहाणां यो गतिर्गतिमतामपि । स कथं द्वारकां हित्वा प्रभासक्षेत्रमाश्रितः

Transliteration

vigraho vigrahāṇāṃ yo gatirgatimatāmapi | sa kathaṃ dvārakāṃ hitvā prabhāsakṣetramāśritaḥ

Translation

彼はあらゆる有身の形の原型であり、最高の道を得た者にとってさえ究竟の目標である。その彼が、どうしてドヴァーラカーを捨て、聖地プラバーサの地に身を寄せるであろうか。

Word by Word

• vigrahaḥ: form; embodiment
• vigrahaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vigraha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्

• vigrahāṇām: of forms
• vigrahāṇām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vigraha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, षष्ठी-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्; सम्बन्धक-यः

• gatiḥ: refuge; course; goal
• gatiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्

• gatimatām: of those who have movement/attainment
• gatimatām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gatimat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, षष्ठी-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम् (मतुप्-प्रत्ययान्त)

• api: even; also
• api: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अपि-कारार्थक-निपातः (also/even)

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्; निर्देशार्थक (demonstrative)

• katham: how
• katham: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्ययम् (interrogative adverb)

• dvārakām: Dvārakā
• dvārakām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvārakā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः (Accusative/2nd), एकवचनम्

• hitvā: having left
• hitvā: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: hā (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्तः (gerund/absolutive); √हा ‘त्यजति’

• prabhāsakṣetram: the Prabhāsa sacred field
• prabhāsakṣetram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāsa (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्; प्रभासस्य क्षेत्रम् (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• āśritaḥ: has resorted to; taken refuge in
• āśritaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-śri (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्तः (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्; √आश्रि ‘आश्रयते’

Speaker

Pārvatī (implied from the surrounding dialogue; Śiva responds beginning in the next verses)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa (in relation to Dvārakā)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaṅkara (as respondent)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A questioning devotional scene: a goddess (Pārvatī) or divine interlocutor gestures between two horizons—Dvārakā’s golden city and Prabhāsa’s sacred coastal field—while the unseen Supreme is implied as the ‘goal of the realized’.

Characters & Entities

• Dvārakā
• Prabhāsa-kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even the highest divine presence chooses to manifest in specific sacred places, teaching that tīrthas like Prabhāsa carry unique, revelatory power.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Prabhāsa), contrasted with Dvārakā to highlight Prabhāsa’s distinctive sanctity.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated in this verse; it functions as a theological question that leads into Prabhāsa’s māhātmya.