Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

हव्यादान्यः सुरांश्चक्रे कव्यादांश्च पितॄ नपि । स कथं देवदेवेशः प्रभासं क्षेत्रमाश्रितः

Transliteration

havyādānyaḥ surāṃścakre kavyādāṃśca pitṝ napi | sa kathaṃ devadeveśaḥ prabhāsaṃ kṣetramāśritaḥ

Translation

ഹവ്യഭോക്താക്കളായി ദേവന്മാരെയും കവ്യഭോക്താക്കളായി പിതൃകളെയും നിയമിച്ച ദേവദേവേശൻ എങ്ങനെ പ്രഭാസക്ഷേത്രം ആശ്രയിച്ചു എന്നു പറയാം?

Word by Word

• havya-ādānyaḥ: receiver of sacrificial offerings
• havya-ādānyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: havya (प्रातिपदिक) + ādānya (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक; ā-√dā दाने/ग्रहणे)
• Form: तत्पुरुषः (‘receiver of havya/oblations’); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषण-रूपेण (qualifying saḥ)

• surān: the gods
• surān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक निपात (conjunction)

• cakre: made/created
• cakre: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु; करणे)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• kavya-ādān: receivers of ancestral offerings
• kavya-ādān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kavya (प्रातिपदिक) + ādāna (प्रातिपदिक; ā-√dā)
• Form: तत्पुरुषः (‘kavya-receivers’, i.e., those who take offerings to Pitṛs); पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक निपात (conjunction)

• pitṝn: the Pitṛs (ancestors)
• pitṝn: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक निपात (negative particle)

• api: even/also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle) — अपि ‘also/even’; here with na = ‘not even’

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• katham: how
• katham: Sambandha (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb)

• deva-deva-īśaḥ: Lord of the gods
• deva-deva-īśaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक) + deva (प्रातिपदिक) + īśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘lord of gods’); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• prabhāsam: Prabhāsa
• prabhāsam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• kṣetram: the sacred field
• kṣetram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• āśritaḥ: has resorted to
• āśritaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√śri (धातु; आश्रये)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्तरि-प्रयोगे ‘having resorted to’

Speaker

Unspecified (same inquiry voice)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (typical frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A contemplative sage poses a rhetorical question before the sea-washed Prabhāsa field: how can the Lord who fixed havya for devas and kavya for pitṛs be said to ‘take refuge’ here? In the background, fire-altars, pitṛ-tarpaṇa at a shoreline, and a distant Somnātha shrine silhouette.

Characters & Entities

• Devas
• Pitṛs
• Havya
• Kavya
• Prabhāsa-kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Lord who establishes sacrificial order (deva- and pitṛ-rites) is beyond need; associating him with Prabhāsa elevates Prabhāsa as a dharma-sustaining tīrtha.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription, but the verse references the dharmic framework of havya (deva-offerings) and kavya (pitṛ-offerings).