Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 13

Devanagari script

दन्तोलूखलिनः केचिदश्मकुट्टास्तथा परे । पञ्चाग्निसाधकाश्चान्ये सद्यः प्रक्षालकास्तथा

Transliteration

dantolūkhalinaḥ kecidaśmakuṭṭāstathā pare | pañcāgnisādhakāścānye sadyaḥ prakṣālakāstathā

Translation

ചിലർ പല്ലുകളെ തന്നെ ഉഖലിയാക്കി (പല്ലുകളാൽ) അരയ്ക്കുന്ന തപസ്സിൽ ഏർപ്പെട്ടു; മറ്റുചിലർ കല്ല് കുത്തി. ചിലർ പഞ്ചാഗ്നി-സാധന ചെയ്തു; ചിലർ തത്സമയം ശുദ്ധി-സ്നാന പ്രക്ഷാലനത്തിൽ നിരതരായി—ഇങ്ങനെ അവർ ഘോരതപസ്സിൽ ലീനരായിരുന്നു.

Word by Word

• दन्त-उलूखलिनः: those who use teeth as a mortar (austerity practitioners)
• दन्त-उलूखलिनः: Karta (Subject subset)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दन्त (प्रातिपदिक) + उलूखलिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्; तृतीया/षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषार्थः (दन्तैः उलूखलिनः/दन्तोलूखलिनः = ‘using teeth as a mortar/pestle’—ascetic epithet)

• केचित्: some
• केचित्: Karta (Subject subset)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्; अनिश्चितवाचक (indefinite pronoun)

• अश्म-कुट्टाः: stone-pounders (ascetics)
• अश्म-कुट्टाः: Karta (Subject subset)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + कुट्ट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (अश्मनः कुट्टाः = ‘stone-pounders’)

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; समुच्चय/प्रकारवाचक

• परे: others
• परे: Karta (Subject subset)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्

• पञ्च-अग्नि-साधकाः: practitioners of the five-fire austerity
• पञ्च-अग्नि-साधकाः: Karta (Subject subset)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पञ्च (प्रातिपदिक) + अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक) + साधक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्; द्विगु-तत्पुरुषः (पञ्च अग्नयः यस्य साधनम्/पञ्चाग्निसाधकाः)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्ययम् (conjunction)

• अन्ये: others
• अन्ये: Karta (Subject subset)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्

• सद्यः: immediately/at once
• सद्यः: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सद्यः (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्ययम् (temporal adverb: immediately/at once)

• प्रक्षालकाः: washers/cleansers (ascetics)
• प्रक्षालकाः: Karta (Subject subset)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रक्षालक (प्रातिपदिक; प्र + क्षल् धातोः ण्वुल्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Samuccaya/Adverbial
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; समुच्चय/प्रकारवाचक

Speaker

Narrator (contextual; likely Sūta continuing the account)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Arbuda (tapas-sthāna)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Multiple ascetics in distinct penances: one clenches and grinds as if using teeth as a mortar (dantolūkhalin), another pounds stone (aśma-kuṭṭa), another sits amid four fires with the sun overhead (pañcāgni), while others repeatedly wash at a nearby water source, all on a rugged mountain setting.

Characters & Entities

• Devī
• Nāga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Steadfast tapas and self-purification, when done with devotion, draws divine grace and protection.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage is within Arbuda Khaṇḍa and leads toward the Nāgahrada-tīrtha glorification later in the chapter.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Pañcāgni-sādhana (five-fire austerity) and acts of immediate purification/cleansing are referenced.