Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 77

Devanagari script

प्राभासिके महातीर्थे यत्र दारुवनं स्मृतम् । ऋषितोया नदी यत्र महापातकनाशिनी

Transliteration

prābhāsike mahātīrthe yatra dāruvanaṃ smṛtam | ṛṣitoyā nadī yatra mahāpātakanāśinī

Translation

പ്രാഭാസിക മഹാതീർത്ഥത്തിൽ—ദാരുവനമെന്ന പുണ്യവനം പ്രസിദ്ധമായിടത്ത്—അവിടെ ഋഷിതോയാ നദി ഒഴുകുന്നു; മഹാപാതകനാശിനിയാണ് അവൾ।

Word by Word

• prābhāsike: in/at Prābhāsa (Prabhāsa-related)
• prābhāsike: Adhikaraṇa (location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prābhāsika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga/Napuṃsakaliṅga, Saptamī vibhakti (locative/7th), Ekavacana; viśeṣaṇa of ‘mahātīrthe’

• mahā-tīrthe: in the great tīrtha
• mahā-tīrthe: Adhikaraṇa (location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Karmadhāraya: mahā-tīrthe = ‘great sacred ford’; Napuṃsakaliṅga, Saptamī vibhakti, Ekavacana

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikaraṇa (relative location marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: Relative adverb (स्थानवाचक)

• dāru-vanam: the Dāru forest
• dāru-vanam: Karta (Subject of passive/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dāru (प्रातिपदिक) + vana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa: dāru-vanam = ‘forest of trees/wood’; Napuṃsakaliṅga, Prathamā vibhakti, Ekavacana

• smṛtam: is remembered, is called
• smṛtam: Kriyā (verbal predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √smṛ (धातु) + kta (कृदन्त)
• Form: Kṛdanta (past passive participle/क्त), Napuṃsakaliṅga, Prathamā vibhakti, Ekavacana; passive sense ‘is remembered/called’

• ṛṣi-toyā: having sage(-like) waters
• ṛṣi-toyā: Karta (Subject qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṛṣi (प्रातिपदिक) + toya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Bahuvrīhi: ṛṣi-toyā = ‘whose water is (fit for) sages / sage-watered’; Strīliṅga (feminine), Prathamā vibhakti, Ekavacana; viśeṣaṇa of ‘nadī’

• nadī: river
• nadī: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nadī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā vibhakti, Ekavacana

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikaraṇa (relative location marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: Relative adverb (स्थानवाचक)

• mahā-pātaka-nāśinī: destroyer of great sins
• mahā-pātaka-nāśinī: Karta (Subject qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + pātaka (प्रातिपदिक) + nāśinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa: mahā-pātaka-nāśinī = ‘destroyer of great sins’; Strīliṅga, Prathamā vibhakti, Ekavacana; viśeṣaṇa of ‘nadī’

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva) (continuing narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prābhāsika Mahātīrtha (with Dāruvana and Ṛṣitoyā)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A luminous coastal tīrtha-scape: the famed Dāruvana grove stands near the flowing Ṛṣitoyā river; sages perform ablutions and japa on sandy banks, the air thick with sanctity and the promise of sin-destruction.

Characters & Entities

• Prabhāsa (Prābhāsika mahātīrtha)
• Dāruvana
• Ṛṣitoyā river

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred landscapes—rivers and groves—are presented as instruments of purification, capable of destroying even grave sins.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prābhāsika Mahātīrtha at Prabhāsa, including Dāruvana and the Ṛṣitoyā river.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implied tīrtha practice: bathing/visiting the sin-destroying river at the holy ford (snāna is suggested by context though not explicitly stated).