Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

जन्मप्रभृति यत्पापं प्राणिभिः समुपार्जितम् । षडशीतिमुखे दृष्ट्वा तल्लिंगं तु व्यपोहति

Transliteration

janmaprabhṛti yatpāpaṃ prāṇibhiḥ samupārjitam | ṣaḍaśītimukhe dṛṣṭvā talliṃgaṃ tu vyapohati

Translation

ജന്മം മുതൽ ജീവികൾ സമ്പാദിച്ച ഏതു പാപവും—എൺപത്താറു മുഖങ്ങളുള്ള പ്രഭുവിന്റെ ആ ലിംഗദർശനത്താൽ നിശ്ചയമായി അകന്നുപോകുന്നു.

Word by Word

• जन्म-प्रभृति: from birth onward
• जन्म-प्रभृति: Adverbial (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: जन्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रभृति (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभावः; अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः ‘from birth onwards’

• यत्: whatever/that which
• यत्: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative) (qualifying पापम्)

• पापम्: sin
• पापम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन

• प्राणिभिः: by living beings
• प्राणिभिः: Kartr (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन

• समुपार्जितम्: accumulated
• समुपार्जितम्: Viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-उप-आर्ज् (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त—क्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; ‘accumulated/earned’ (agreeing with पापम्)

• षडशीति-मुखे: in/at the eighty-six-faced (form)
• षडशीति-मुखे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: षडशीति (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + मुख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; द्विगु-समासः—षडशीतिः (86) मुखानि यस्य/यत्र; ‘in the eighty-six-faced (liṅga)’

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• दृष्ट्वा: Kriya (Gerundial action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभावः; ‘having seen’

• तत्-लिङ्गम्: that liṅga
• तत्-लिङ्गम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुषवत्—तत् लिङ्गम् (that liṅga)

• तु: indeed/but
• तु: Particle (Nipāta/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात—विरोध/विशेष (but/indeed)

• व्यपोहति: removes
• व्यपोहति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-अप-ऊह्/अपोह् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; ‘drives away/removes’

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva) (contextual attribution)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ṣaḍaśīti-mukha (Eighty-six-faced) Rudra-liṅga—Kapālīśvara context

Type: temple

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Interlocutor in the Kapālīśvara-māhātmya discourse

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A radiant liṅga emanates light; the devotee beholds it in awe. The ‘eighty-six-faced’ epithet is visualized as a halo of many subtle Rudra faces or a multi-faced aureole around the liṅga, suggesting cosmic omniformity; darkness (sins) disperses like smoke.

Characters & Entities

• Liṅga
• Ṣaḍaśītimukha (Eighty-six-faced form/title)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Darśana of the Lord in a consecrated kṣetra is portrayed as a swift purifier of long-held karmic burdens.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kapālīśvara liṅga in Prabhāsa-kṣetra, praised for powerful sin-destruction.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The key act is darśana (seeing) of the liṅga; no additional rite is specified in this verse.