Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 93

Devanagari script

अहो सर्वोत्तमं क्षेत्रं सर्वेषां नोऽघनाशनम् । राजानं तीर्थराजानं द्वारकां शिरसा नमः

Transliteration

aho sarvottamaṃ kṣetraṃ sarveṣāṃ no'ghanāśanam | rājānaṃ tīrtharājānaṃ dvārakāṃ śirasā namaḥ

Translation

അഹോ! ദ്വാരകയാണ് സർവക്ഷേത്രങ്ങളിലും ശ്രേഷ്ഠം; നമ്മുടെ എല്ലാ പാപങ്ങളും നശിപ്പിക്കുന്നതു. തീർത്ഥരാജനും രാജാധിരാജനും ആയ ദ്വാരകയ്ക്ക് ഞങ്ങൾ ശിരസാ നമസ്കരിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• अहो: oh! indeed!
• अहो: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: aho (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विस्मयादिबोधक-निपात (interjection/particle of exclamation)

• सर्वोत्तमम्: the best of all
• सर्वोत्तमम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; विशेषण (superlative adjective)

• क्षेत्रम्: sacred place; holy field
• क्षेत्रम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• सर्वेषाम्: of all
• सर्वेषाम्: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (सर्वनाम-शब्द), षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन (genitive plural)

• नः: of us; our
• नः: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उभयलिङ्ग (सर्वनाम), षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; एन्क्लिटिक रूप (enclitic)

• अघनाशनम्: sin-destroying
• अघनाशनम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: agha + nāśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; विशेषण (destroyer of sin)

• राजानम्: king
• राजानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• तीर्थराजानम्: king of pilgrim-places
• तीर्थराजानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha + rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; ‘तीर्थाणां राजा’ इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष

• द्वारकाम्: Dvaraka
• द्वारकाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvārakā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• शिरसा: with (my) head; by bowing the head
• शिरसा: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiras (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन (instrumental)

• नमः: salutation; homage
• नमः: Prayojana (Salutation/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययीभाववत्)
• Form: अव्यय; नमस्कारार्थक-निपात (indeclinable of salutation)

Speaker

Devotees/pilgrims (collective praise within Dvārakā-māhātmya context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dvārakā

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A hymn-like bow: devotees prostrate, touching heads to the ground before the imagined personified Dvārakā as a crowned ‘king of tīrthas’, with the city’s gates and sea behind.

Characters & Entities

• Dvārakā
• Tīrtha
• Kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Reverence toward a mahā-kṣetra like Dvārakā is itself purifying; the tīrtha is celebrated as a remover of sin and a royal sanctuary of dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dvārakā is praised as the ‘king of tīrthas’ (tīrtharāja) and the foremost kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

An act of devotion: bowing (namas) to Dvārakā with humility and reverence.