Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 90

Devanagari script

अभिजिन्नाम नक्षत्रं जयंतीनाम शर्वरी । मुहूर्तो विजयो नाम यत्र जातो जनार्द्दनः

Transliteration

abhijinnāma nakṣatraṃ jayaṃtīnāma śarvarī | muhūrto vijayo nāma yatra jāto janārddanaḥ

Translation

നക്ഷത്രം ‘അഭിജിത്’ എന്നും, രാത്രി ‘ജയന്തീ’ എന്നും, മുഹൂർത്തം ‘വിജയ’ എന്നും വിളിക്കപ്പെട്ടു—അന്നേരത്തുതന്നെ ജനാർദ്ദനൻ ജനിച്ചു।

Word by Word

• अभिजित्: Abhijit (name of a nakṣatra)
• अभिजित्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: abhijit (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; नक्षत्रनाम

• नाम: named
• नाम: Sambandha (Apposition marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nāman (प्रातिपदिक) / nāma (अव्ययवत्)
• Form: नाम-शब्दः अव्ययवत् (quotative/नामनिर्देशक)

• नक्षत्रम्: the constellation
• नक्षत्रम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nakṣatra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• जयन्ती: Jayantī (name)
• जयन्ती: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jayantī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; रात्रिनाम

• नाम: named
• नाम: Sambandha (Apposition marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nāma (अव्यय)
• Form: नामनिर्देशक-अव्यय (named)

• शर्वरी: night
• शर्वरी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śarvarī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• मुहूर्तः: the muhūrta (time-period)
• मुहूर्तः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muhūrta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• विजयः: Vijaya (name)
• विजयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vijaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• नाम: named
• नाम: Sambandha (Apposition marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nāma (अव्यय)
• Form: नामनिर्देशक-अव्यय (named)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (relative adverb: where)

• जातः: was born
• जातः: Kriya (Predicative participle/क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jan (धातु) → jāta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त/PPP) 'born'; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• जनार्द्दनः: Janārdana (Viṣṇu)
• जनार्द्दनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janārdana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विष्णोर्नाम

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (contextual frame)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A midnight birth-scene rendered symbolically: the sky bears the Abhijit nakṣatra emblem; the night personified as Jayantī; a radiant ‘Vijaya’ muhūrta aura surrounds the infant Janārdana, with attendants holding lamps and conch-shells.

Characters & Entities

• Abhijit (nakṣatra)
• Jayantī (night)
• Vijaya (muhūrta)
• Janārdana

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine incarnations are portrayed as manifesting at auspicious cosmic junctions, emphasizing sacred time as well as sacred place.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse emphasizes sacred time rather than a named tīrtha; it appears within the Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya discourse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is stated; the verse records auspicious calendrical markers.