Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 96

Devanagari script

तेषां किलास्थिनिचयैः स्थलरूपं बभूव तत् । भस्मपुंजनिभाकारं तेनाभूद्यादव स्थलम्

Transliteration

teṣāṃ kilāsthinicayaiḥ sthalarūpaṃ babhūva tat | bhasmapuṃjanibhākāraṃ tenābhūdyādava sthalam

Translation

അവരുടെ അസ്ഥികൂട്ടങ്ങളാൽ ആ ഭൂമി ഒരു പ്രത്യേക രൂപം കൈവരിച്ചതായി പറയുന്നു. ഭസ്മകൂമ്പാരത്തെപ്പോലെ തോന്നിയതിനാൽ അത് ‘യാദവസ്ഥലം’ ആയി.

Word by Word

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन

• किल: indeed/it is said
• किल: Sambandha (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किल (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (indeclinable particle: indeed/it is said)

• अस्थिनिचयैः: by heaps of bones
• अस्थिनिचयैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्थि (प्रातिपदिक) + निचय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (अस्थीनां निचयाः), पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), बहुवचन

• स्थलरूपम्: the form of a ground
• स्थलरूपम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्थल (प्रातिपदिक) + रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (स्थलस्य रूपम्), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• बभूव: became
• बभूव: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• तत्: that (place)
• तत्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• भस्मपुञ्जनिभाकारम्: having an appearance like a heap of ash
• भस्मपुञ्जनिभाकारम्: Karma (Object-qualifier/कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भस्म (प्रातिपदिक) + पुञ्ज (प्रातिपदिक) + निभ (प्रातिपदिक) + आकार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (भस्मपुञ्जवत् निभः आकारः यस्य), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (स्थलम्/तत् इत्यस्य)

• तेन: thereby/with that
• तेन: Hetu/Karana (Cause/Instrument/हेतु/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन (thereby/with that)

• अभूत्: became
• अभूत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लङ्-लकार (Imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• यादव: of the Yādavas
• यादव: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यादव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपदत्वेन अव्यक्त-विभक्ति; विशेषणम् (स्थलम् इत्यस्य)

• स्थलम्: ground/place
• स्थलम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्थल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Yādava-sthala (ash-mound memorial)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahādevī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Close view of an ash-mound landscape: pale grey mounds like dunes, scattered bone-heaps suggested symbolically, incense smoke curling, a pilgrim’s lamp flickering against a wind-swept shore.

Characters & Entities

• Yādava-sthala

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Impermanence is etched into sacred terrain; the tīrtha teaches detachment and remembrance of dharma amid mortality.

Which specific holy site (Tīrtha) is glorified here?

Yādava-sthala at Prabhāsa-kṣetra, described by its ash-mound-like appearance.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse is etiological—explaining how the place gained its identity.