Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 61

Devanagari script

यदि त्वां पातयिष्यामि कीर्तिर्मे ह्यतुला भवेत् । पातितोऽहं त्वया वीर यास्यामि परमां गतिम्

Transliteration

yadi tvāṃ pātayiṣyāmi kīrtirme hyatulā bhavet | pātito'haṃ tvayā vīra yāsyāmi paramāṃ gatim

Translation

ഞാൻ നിന്നെ വീഴ്ത്തുകയാണെങ്കിൽ, എൻ്റെ കീർത്തി തുല്യമില്ലാത്തതാകും. ഹേ വീരാ, നിന്നാൽ ഞാൻ വീഴ്ത്തപ്പെട്ടാൽ, ഞാൻ പരമഗതിയെ പ്രാപിക്കും.

Word by Word

• यदि: if
• यदि: Sambandha (Condition marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्तवाचक-अव्यय (conditional particle)

• त्वाम्: you
• त्वाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• पातयिष्यामि: I will cause (you) to fall / I will strike down
• पातयिष्यामि: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (धातु) [णिच् causative: पातय-]
• Form: लृट् (Simple Future), परस्मैपद, उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; णिजन्त (causative)

• कीर्तिः: fame
• कीर्तिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कीर्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• मे: my
• मे: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन (enclitic)

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• अतुला: incomparable
• अतुला: Karta (Subject attribute/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अतुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (कीर्तिः)

• भवेत्: would be
• भवेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• पातितः: struck down / made to fall
• पातितः: Karta (Subject attribute/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पातित (कृदन्त, √पत् णिच्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा, एकवचन

• त्वया: by you
• त्वया: Karana (Agent-instrument in passive/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• वीर: O hero
• वीर: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वीर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• यास्यामि: I will go
• यास्यामि: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: लृट् (Simple Future), परस्मैपद, उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचन

• परमाम्: supreme
• परमाम्: Karma (Object attribute/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (गतिम्)

• गतिम्: state/goal
• गतिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

Kuśa

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dvārakā

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A defiant warrior speaks a vow: victory yields incomparable fame; defeat by the hero-Lord yields the highest state—two destinies held in a single breath of bravado and surrender.

Characters & Entities

• Kuśa
• Vāsudeva (implied addressee)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Worldly ambition seeks fame, yet contact with the divine—even through defeat—can lead to the highest destiny; the Purāṇa hints at the Lord as giver of ultimate gati.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dvārakā’s sacred domain, where the Lord’s presence makes even death in confrontation a theologically charged event within the tīrtha-māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse is doctrinally suggestive (paramā gati) rather than ritual-instructional.