Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 10

Devanagari script

संसारदोषान्विविधान्विचिन्त्य स्त्रीपुत्रमित्रेष्वपि बंधमुक्तः । विज्ञाय बद्धं पुरुषं प्रधानैः स सर्वतीर्थानि करोति देहम्

Transliteration

saṃsāradoṣānvividhānvicintya strīputramitreṣvapi baṃdhamuktaḥ | vijñāya baddhaṃ puruṣaṃ pradhānaiḥ sa sarvatīrthāni karoti deham

Translation

സംസാരത്തിലെ നാനാവിധ ദോഷങ്ങളെ വിചിന്തിച്ച്, ഭാര്യ‑പുത്ര‑മിത്രങ്ങളോടുള്ള ആസക്തിബന്ധനത്തിൽ നിന്നും പോലും വിമുക്തനായി; ജ്ഞാനികളായ പ്രധാനന്മാർ മുഖേന പുരുഷൻ എങ്ങനെ ബന്ധിതനാണെന്ന് അറിഞ്ഞ്, അവൻ തന്റെ ദേഹത്തെ തന്നെ സർവതീർത്ഥമയമാക്കുന്നു।

Word by Word

• संसार-दोषान्: faults of worldly existence
• संसार-दोषान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संसार (प्रातिपदिक) + दोष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), बहुवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (संसारस्य दोषाः)

• विविधान्: various
• विविधान्: Visheshana (Adjectival)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), बहुवचन; ‘दोषान्’ इति विशेषण

• विचिन्त्य: having reflected on
• विचिन्त्य: Kriya (Gerund/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √चिन्त् (धातु) + वि (उपसर्ग)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (अव्ययभावे); ‘having reflected/considered’

• स्त्री-पुत्र-मित्रेषु: among wife, sons, and friends
• स्त्री-पुत्र-मित्रेषु: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्त्री (प्रातिपदिक) + पुत्र (प्रातिपदिक) + मित्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (समाहारद्वन्द्वे नपुंसकं सम्भवति; अत्र बहुवचन-प्रयोगे पुंलिङ्गरूपम्), सप्तमी (7th), बहुवचन; समासः इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः; अधिकरण

• अपि: even, also
• अपि: Avyaya (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधान/समुच्चयार्थ (even/also)

• बन्ध-मुक्तः: freed from bondage
• बन्ध-मुक्तः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बन्ध (प्रातिपदिक) + मुक्त (कृदन्त; √मुच् धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त); समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (बन्धात् मुक्तः)

• विज्ञाय: having understood
• विज्ञाय: Kriya (Gerund/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √ज्ञा (धातु) + वि (उपसर्ग)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (अव्ययभावे); ‘having understood’

• बद्धम्: bound
• बद्धम्: Visheshana (Adjectival)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बद्ध (कृदन्त; √बन्ध् धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त); ‘पुरुषम्’ इति विशेषण

• पुरुषम्: the person
• पुरुषम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• प्रधानैः: by the principal (elements/agents)
• प्रधानैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रधान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन; करण/सहायक (by/through the chief ones)

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

• सर्व-तीर्थानि: all sacred fords
• सर्व-तीर्थानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक) + तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), बहुवचन; कर्मधारयसमास (सर्वाणि तीर्थानि)

• करोति: makes, renders
• करोति: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कृ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• देहम्: the body
• देहम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; (कर्म) ‘देहं सर्वतीर्थानि करोति’ = ‘makes the body (as) all tīrthas’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa māhātmya narration style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A lone pilgrim at a coastal sacred tract of Prabhāsa, gazing inward; behind him faint silhouettes of wife/children/friends dissolve like mist; sages point toward a radiant inner light, suggesting the body itself as a confluence of tīrthas.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True tīrtha is also inward: detachment and right understanding transform the seeker’s life into a sacred pilgrimage.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

While situated in the Vastrāpatha-kṣetra-māhātmya, the verse universalizes tīrtha by teaching an inner sanctification that complements pilgrimage.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A discipline of contemplation on saṃsāra’s defects and cultivation of non-attachment (vairāgya), guided by the wise.