Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

तत्राऽकरोत्तपो घोरं दिव्याब्दानां सहस्रकम् । संस्थाप्य तु महालिंगं सिसृक्षुर्विविधाः प्रजाः

Transliteration

tatrā'karottapo ghoraṃ divyābdānāṃ sahasrakam | saṃsthāpya tu mahāliṃgaṃ sisṛkṣurvividhāḥ prajāḥ

Translation

तेथे त्याने एक सहस्र दिव्य वर्षे घोर तप केले; आणि महालिंगाची प्रतिष्ठा करून नानाविध प्रजांची सृष्टी करावयास तो इच्छित झाला।

Word by Word

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• अकरोत्: did; performed
• अकरोत्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/past), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपद

• तपः: austerity; penance
• तपः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन (singular)

• घोरम्: terrible; intense
• घोरम्: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन (singular)

• दिव्याब्दानाम्: of divine years
• दिव्याब्दानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिव्य- + अब्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), षष्ठी (6th case), बहुवचन (plural)

• सहस्रकम्: a thousand (as a set)
• सहस्रकम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्रक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन (singular)

• संस्थाप्य: having स्थापित/established
• संस्थाप्य: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-स्था (धातु) + ल्यप् (अव्ययीभाव/क्त्वा-सम)
• Form: ल्यप्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive), पूर्वक्रिया (having established)

• तु: then; indeed
• तु: Sambandha/Emphasis (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle)

• महालिङ्गम्: the great liṅga
• महालिङ्गम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा- + लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन (singular)

• सिसृक्षुः: wishing to create
• सिसृक्षुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सृज् (धातु) + सन् (इच्छार्थक)
• Form: सन्नन्त-प्रातिपदिक (desiderative) ‘सिसृक्षु’ (desiring to create), पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन (singular)

• विविधाः: various
• विविधाः: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural)

• प्रजाः: creatures; beings
• प्रजाः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Somanātha area)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Varānanā (addressed as ‘O fair-faced one’ in the passage sequence)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Brahmā (or the cosmic agent of creation) performs fierce tapas in the luminous coastal Prabhāsa; a great liṅga is set upon a sanctified pedestal, with the sea-breeze, sacrificial fires, and the sense of impending creation of beings.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā (implied)
• Mahāliṅga
• Prabhāsa Kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Creation and spiritual authority are grounded in tapas and worship: austerity culminates in स्थापना of the liṅga, linking cosmic activity to devotion.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa Kṣetra (the Somanātha-region), where Brahmā’s austerity and installation of a great liṅga are narrated.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Installation (saṃsthāpana) and worship of a Mahāliṅga are implied, along with the ideal of sustained tapas as a purifying discipline.