Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 106
सरस्वतीति वै लोके वर्तते नाम सांप्रतम् । अतीतं नाम यत्तस्याः कमंडलुभवेति च । रत्नाकरेति सामुद्रं सत्यं नामांतरं पुरा
sarasvatīti vai loke vartate nāma sāṃpratam | atītaṃ nāma yattasyāḥ kamaṃḍalubhaveti ca | ratnākareti sāmudraṃ satyaṃ nāmāṃtaraṃ purā
ഇപ്പോൾ ലോകത്തിൽ അവൾ ‘സരസ്വതി’ എന്ന നാമത്തിൽ അറിയപ്പെടുന്നു. അവളുടെ മുൻ നാമം ‘കമണ്ഡലുഭവ’ ആയിരുന്നു; പുരാതനകാലത്ത് സമുദ്രബന്ധിയായ അവളുടെ സത്യ നാമാന്തരം ‘രത്നാകര’ ആയിരുന്നു.
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic voice within Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya)
Tirtha: Sarasvatī (with Ratnākara oceanic aspect at Prabhāsa)
Type: sangam
Listener: General audience within māhātmya frame
Scene: Triptych of Sarasvatī’s identities: (1) emerging from a sage’s kamaṇḍalu as a luminous stream, (2) flowing as Sarasvatī with vīṇā-bearing devī above the waters, (3) merging into the ocean labeled Ratnākara with jewel-like waves.
FAQs
Divine realities are one, yet described through many names reflecting function, origin-myth, and sacred geography.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra’s māhātmya context frames Sarasvatī’s names, especially her ocean-linked identity near the coast.
None; it is a doctrinal-geographical clarification of names rather than instruction for worship.