Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महालिंगमर्घ्येश्वरमिति श्रुतम् । उत्तरे तु विशालाक्ष्या नातिदूरे व्यवस्थितम्

Transliteration

īśvara uvāca | tato gacchenmahāliṃgamarghyeśvaramiti śrutam | uttare tu viśālākṣyā nātidūre vyavasthitam

Translation

ഈശ്വരൻ അരുളിച്ചെയ്തു—അനന്തരം ‘അർഘ്യേശ്വര’ എന്നു പ്രസിദ്ധമായ മഹാലിംഗത്തിലേക്കു പോകണം. അത് വിശാലാക്ഷിയുടെ വടക്കായി, അതിദൂരമല്ലാതെ സ്ഥിതിചെയ്യുന്നു.

Word by Word

• īśvaraḥ: Īśvara
• īśvaraḥ: Karta (Speaker/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: īśvara (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; nominative singular

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धा॒तु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; parasmaipada; ‘said’

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रम/अपादानवाचक-अव्यय (then/from there)

• gacchet: should go
• gacchet: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धा॒तु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; parasmaipada; ‘should go’ (injunctive instruction)

• mahā-liṅgam: the great liṅga
• mahā-liṅgam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदik) + liṅga (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; accusative singular (object/goal)

• arghya-īśvaram: (called) Arghyeśvara
• arghya-īśvaram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: arghya (प्रातिपदik) + īśvara (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास; पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; apposition to mahāliṅgam

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Quotative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरणसूचक-अव्यय (quotative)

• śrutam: is heard/known (as)
• śrutam: Kriyā (Predicate complement/क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śru (धा॒तु) + ta (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘is heard/known’

• uttare: to the north
• uttare: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: uttara (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; locative singular ‘to the north/in the north’

• tu: but/indeed
• tu: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (contrastive particle)

• viśālākṣyāḥ: of (the goddess) Viśālākṣī
• viśālākṣyāḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśāla (प्रातिपदik) + akṣi (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: बहुव्रीहि-समास (‘विशालानि अक्षीणि यस्याः’); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; genitive singular ‘of Viśālākṣī’

• na-ati-dūre: not very far
• na-ati-dūre: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय) + ati (अव्यय) + dūra (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास/अव्ययप्रयोग; ‘not very far’ (adverbial)

• vyavasthitam: situated
• vyavasthitam: Kriyā (Predicate complement/क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi-ava-sthā (धा॒तु) + ta (कृत्)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; agreeing with (mahāliṅgam) understood; ‘situated/established’

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Arghyeśvara

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim-path within Prabhāsa: the Devī shrine of Viśālākṣī as a landmark, and slightly north the towering Arghyeśvara liṅga, with coastal light and sea-breeze implied.

Characters & Entities

• Īśvara (Śiva)
• Arghyeśvara
• Viśālākṣī
• Prabhāsa Kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It frames pilgrimage as a guided dharmic journey—moving from shrine to shrine with awareness of sacred geography.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Arghyeśvara Mahāliṅga in Prabhāsa Kṣetra, located north of Viśālākṣī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A yātrā instruction: proceed to (darśana of) the Arghyeśvara liṅga as part of the prescribed pilgrimage sequence.