Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

महदादि विशेषांतं भूतजालं यदीरितम् । पंचविंशति संख्याकं तेषामीशो यतः स्मृतः

Transliteration

mahadādi viśeṣāṃtaṃ bhūtajālaṃ yadīritam | paṃcaviṃśati saṃkhyākaṃ teṣāmīśo yataḥ smṛtaḥ

Translation

മഹത് മുതൽ വിശേഷം (തന്മാത്ര/ഭൂതം) വരെ പറയപ്പെട്ട തത്ത്വസമൂഹം ഇരുപത്തിയഞ്ച് എണ്ണമാണ്; കാരണം അവയുടെ ഈശ്വരനായി അദ്ദേഹം സ്മരിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു।

Word by Word

• mahadādi: beginning with Mahat
• mahadādi: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahat (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (आदिः यस्य तत्)

• viśeṣāntam: ending with Viśeṣa
• viśeṣāntam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: viśeṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + anta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (अन्तः यस्य/यावत् विशेषः)

• bhūtajālam: the aggregate/network of beings/elements
• bhūtajālam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūta (प्रातिपदिक) + jāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (भूतानां जालम्)

• yat: which
• yat: Anvaya-sambandha (Relative pronoun/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम

• īritam: is stated/declared
• īritam: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √īr (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त—क्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगः

• paṃcaviṃśati: twenty-five
• paṃcaviṃśati: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: paṃca (प्रातिपदिक) + viṃśati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्याशब्दः; समासः—द्विगुः (पञ्च च विंशतिः)

• saṃkhyākam: having the number
• saṃkhyākam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: saṃkhyāka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

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

• īśaḥ: the Lord
• īśaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: īśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• yataḥ: because/from whom
• yataḥ: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कारणार्थक (causal)

• smṛtaḥ: is remembered/considered
• smṛtaḥ: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √smṛ (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त—क्त (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

Śiva (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Bhūteśvara

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: (ṛṣi assembly)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A teaching moment: the narrator/sage explains the 25 tattvas—from Mahat to the specific elements—while indicating the Bhūteśvara liṅga as the Lord over them; subtle cosmological diagram motifs appear around the shrine.

Characters & Entities

• Bhūteśvara
• Mahat
• Tattva (25 principles)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śiva is praised not only as a deity of place but as the Lord of the entire tattva-structure underlying embodied existence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Bhūteśvara at Prabhāsa Kṣetra, whose name is linked to lordship over the cosmic principles.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct rite here; it provides doctrinal grounding (tattva-meaning) that sanctifies the act of worship and pilgrimage.