Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि तस्य दक्षिणसंस्थितम् । दुर्गादित्येतिनामानं सर्वपापप्रणाशनम्

Transliteration

īśvara uvāca | tato gacchenmahādevi tasya dakṣiṇasaṃsthitam | durgādityetināmānaṃ sarvapāpapraṇāśanam

Translation

ഈശ്വരൻ അരുളിച്ചെയ്തു—ഹേ മഹാദേവീ! തുടർന്ന് അതിന്റെ തെക്കുഭാഗത്ത് സ്ഥിതിചെയ്യുന്ന, ‘ദുർഗാദിത്യ’ എന്ന നാമമുള്ള, സർവ്വപാപനാശകമായ ആ സ്ഥാനത്തേക്ക് പോകണം.

Word by Word

• īśvaraḥ: Īśvara (Lord Śiva)
• īśvaraḥ: Karta (Speaker/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vac (वच्) → uvāca
• Form: लिट् (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Sequence/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रम/हेतुवाचक-अव्यय (then/thereafter)

• gacchet: should go
• gacchet: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √gam (गम्) → gacchet
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद (injunctive sense: “should go”)

• mahādevi: O great goddess
• mahādevi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā-devī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (महती देवī), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• tasya: of that (place)
• tasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• dakṣiṇasaṃsthitam: situated to the south
• dakṣiṇasaṃsthitam: Karman (Goal/object of going/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dakṣiṇa-saṃsthita (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (दक्षिणे संस्थितम्), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; गन्तव्य-स्थानविशेषण (object of motion implied)

• durgāditya: Durgāditya
• durgāditya: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: durgā-āditya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (दुर्गायाः आदित्यः/दुर्गा-आदित्यः), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; नामरूपेण

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Name-quotative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: उक्त्यर्थक-अव्यय (quotative: “thus”)

• nāmānam: named / having the name
• nāmānam: Karman (Appositional object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘…इति नामानम्’ = “named …”

• sarvapāpapraṇāśanam: destroyer of all sins
• sarvapāpapraṇāśanam: Karman (Object qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva-pāpa-praṇāśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (सर्वेषां पापानां प्रणाशनम्), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘durgāditya’ इति विशेष्येण सह

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Durgāditya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahādevī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva (Īśvara) instructs the Great Goddess about a southern shrine named Durgāditya; in the distance a radiant Sun-temple rises, pilgrims moving along a path with banners and bells.

Characters & Entities

• Īśvara (Śiva)
• Mahādevī (Pārvatī)
• Durgāditya
• Prabhāsa-kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pilgrimage to named sacred sites is presented as a dharmic means for pāpa-kṣaya (dissolution of sin) through faith and proper approach.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Durgāditya, a southern shrine/site within the Prabhāsa-kṣetra sacred geography.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse gives a pilgrimage instruction (“one should go”); detailed worship rules follow in later verses.