Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 20

Devanagari script

यावत्ससागरा पृथ्वी यावच्च कुलपर्वताः । तावत्कालं वसेत्स्वर्गे नान्यथा मम भाषितम्

Transliteration

yāvatsasāgarā pṛthvī yāvacca kulaparvatāḥ | tāvatkālaṃ vasetsvarge nānyathā mama bhāṣitam

Translation

സമുദ്രങ്ങളോടുകൂടിയ ഭൂമി നിലനിൽക്കുന്നത്രയും, പർവതനിരകൾ നിലനിൽക്കുന്നത്രയും, അത്രകാലം അവൻ സ്വർഗത്തിൽ വസിക്കും—ഇത് എന്റെ വാക്ക്; മറ്റെങ്ങനെ അല്ല।

Word by Word

• yāvat: as long as
• yāvat: Sambandha (correlative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्यय-प्रयोग)
• Form: अव्यय; परिमाण/अवधि-वाचक (correlative: 'as long as/so long')

• sa-sāgarā: with the oceans
• sa-sāgarā: Visheshana (of pṛthvī)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sa (उपसर्ग/सह-प्रयोग) + sāgara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण—'सागरयुक्ता' (with the ocean)

• pṛthvī: the earth
• pṛthvī: Adhikarana (time-limit reference/अवधि-आधार)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pṛthvī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• yāvat: as long as
• yāvat: Sambandha (correlative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्यय-प्रयोग)
• Form: अव्यय; परिमाण/अवधि-वाचक (correlative)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय-बोधक (conjunction)

• kula-parvatāḥ: the family-mountains (mountain ranges)
• kula-parvatāḥ: Adhikarana (time-limit reference/अवधि-आधार)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kula (प्रातिपदिक) + parvata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (कुलानां पर्वताः)

• tāvat: for that long
• tāvat: Sambandha (correlative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्यय-प्रयोग)
• Form: अव्यय; तावद्-परिमाण/अवधि-वाचक (correlative: 'so long/that long')

• kālam: time/period
• kālam: Karma (object of 'vaset')
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; कालावधि-निर्देश

• vaset: should dwell
• vaset: Kriya (predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vas (वस्, निवासे)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• svarge: in heaven
• svarge: Adhikarana (location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (negator)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध (negation)

• anyathā: otherwise
• anyathā: Kriya-visheshana (manner)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anyathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb: otherwise)

• mama: my
• mama: Sambandha (possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (genitive: my)

• bhāṣitam: (what is) spoken/said
• bhāṣitam: Karta (as predicate-noun: 'my statement')
• Type: Noun
• Root: √bhāṣ (भाष्, वचने) + -ta (क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Skanda Purāṇa context within Māhātmya narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dvārakā

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrim-inquirer

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A visionary tableau: the devotee’s merit is shown as a path to celestial realms; below, the earth with oceans and mountain chains; above, svarga with radiant palaces, indicating duration ‘as long as earth endures’.

Characters & Entities

• Svarga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic dharma frames devotion and sacred observance as yielding vast, enduring merit, expressed through the idiom of long svarga-vāsa.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dvārakā, within whose Māhātmya these merit-results are proclaimed.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

This verse gives the promised fruit (phalaśruti) rather than a new rite; it continues the results of the preceding jāgaraṇa/Bhāgavata practice.