Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

प्रत्यक्षतामगात्तस्य शंखचक्रगदाधरः । विकचांबुजपत्राक्षः सूर्यकोटिसमप्रभः

Transliteration

pratyakṣatāmagāttasya śaṃkhacakragadādharaḥ | vikacāṃbujapatrākṣaḥ sūryakoṭisamaprabhaḥ

Translation

അവനു നേരിൽ പ്രത്യക്ഷനായി—ശംഖം, ചക്രം, ഗദ എന്നിവ ധരിച്ചവൻ; വിരിഞ്ഞ താമരയിതളുപോലുള്ള കണ്ണുകളുള്ളവൻ; കോടി സൂര്യന്മാരെപ്പോലെ ദീപ്തിമാൻ.

Word by Word

• प्रत्यक्षताम्: manifestation, visibility
• प्रत्यक्षताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रत्यक्षता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• अगात्: went, attained
• अगात्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु)
• Form: लुङ् (Aorist), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• तस्य: of him
• तस्य: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• शंखचक्रगदाधरः: bearer of conch, discus, and mace
• शंखचक्रगदाधरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शंख (प्रातिपदिक) + चक्र (प्रातिपदिक) + गदा (प्रातिपदिक) + धर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (instrumental/possessive sense: ‘bearing conch, discus, mace’)

• विकचाम्बुजपत्राक्षः: one whose eyes are like petals of a blooming lotus
• विकचाम्बुजपत्राक्षः: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता-समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विकच (प्रातिपदिक) + अम्बुज (प्रातिपदिक) + पत्र (प्रातिपदिक) + अक्षि/अक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; बहुव्रीहि (‘whose eyes are like petals of a fully-blown lotus’)

• सूर्यकोटिसमप्रभः: having radiance equal to ten million suns
• सूर्यकोटिसमप्रभः: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता-समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूर्य (प्रातिपदिक) + कोटि (प्रातिपदिक) + सम (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; बहुव्रीहि (‘whose radiance equals ten million suns’)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator within Setukhaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Setukṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: ṛṣi-audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Viṣṇu appears directly before the sage: four-armed, holding conch, discus, and mace; eyes like open lotus petals; a blaze of light like countless suns filling the sky above the sea.

Characters & Entities

• Viṣṇu

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

When devotion ripens, the Lord grants pratyakṣa-darśana—direct experience rather than mere belief.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Setukṣetra is the contextual pilgrimage region in which the Lord’s manifestation is narrated.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual is prescribed; the verse describes the fruit of tapas and bhakti as divine darśana.